Dragon's Curse Ver 1
by Whymsical
Summary: Alfred plays around with magic (and a witch) and gets himself turned into a dragon. Enter Arthur, a knight out to kill him. Dragon/Magic AU, rating might go up later.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: So this is an RP-based fic between me and my good friend fancifuldressage on tumblr~ Cover art is by her! There's also a second version, with Arthur as the dragon, but that'll go up once this is finished. I was Alfred, she was Arthur. Hope you enjoy~

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Alfred wasn't really a dragon. He was human, just cursed to be a dragon. Note to self, having affairs with witches wasn't a good idea, especially if said witches were really big and creepy men. Needless to say it hadn't ended well, and now he was stuck in the body of a dragon for who knew how long. And the circumstances for breaking it were odd indeed. Ivan didn't operate on 'true love's kiss' types of curses. No, Alfred had to sacrifice himself for that someone. Like die. He didn't really trust Ivan when he'd said that Alfred would be reborn back into his normal form, but he'd already spent a good twenty years as a dragon (his human form never changing), and he'd had enough. So he tried making friends with some humans, but they either wanted to kill him or ran away screaming. Alfred had been very sociable before, so the solitude wasn't pleasant for him.

And now he was in this situation. It wasn't a good situation. He was exposed and practically defenseless, not to mention hurt. His golden scales shone brilliantly in the sun, which would only serve to attract attention soon. His left wing was badly bruised, as was his left shoulder and foreleg. He was pretty sure there was a scratch on the foreleg as well. He'd accidentally crashed into a rock wall while hunting not too far from his home, but the pain was too much for him to make it back to his cave. So he waited for it to subside, hoping that no one would come by there.

But of course, not five minutes later, there was a faint rustling from the bushes surrounding the edges of the clearing he was in.

Having served the royal family for generations, the Kirkland name was little short of legend. That being said, Arthur was the best of the best, held in the King's highest regard. Over thirty dishonourable men he had slain in the king's own courtyard, caught in their attempt to kill the rightful monarch. They never made it to the throne room.

And now Arthur wandered, gliding through the forest as he searched for his target: the dragon. Legends had recently arisen in the capital of a great beast, massive in both body and presence, whose very body gleamed with blinding light as he terrorized the forest. He had been searching for what, three days now? Delving further into the forest each time, but still having no luck.

As he crouched to a stream to fill his skin, however, something caught his eye. Something shining and gleaming...could it possibly be? As he rushed towards where he saw this, the beast slowly came into view and as he crashed through the leaves, his intention to shout for a fight, the sight he stumbled onto took all thoughts of words out of his mind. It was simply...breathtaking. The tales had not done justice; this was a beast of magnificence, and Arthur would surely regret having to slay such a beautiful creature. He regained his poise and prepared to fight.

Alfred lifted his head when the knight came into view, and he shifted slightly away from the human. He saw the sword in the knight's hand and quickly figured out its intent. "Uhh, hi there." he said, trying to stall for time. "Pretty nice day, ain't it?"

Was that possibly...fear in the beast's eyes? Perhaps not, but there was some semblance of human emotion there, and it made Arthur feel uncomfortable. His eyes widened as the creature spoke, taken aback. Arthur quickly recovered his steady stance and replied to the dragon.

"Oh, so you speak English? Well understand this, foul beast, this will be the last nice day you see upon this earth!" he said, the ferocity in his voice rising as he pointed his sword at the dragon.

"Yeah, about that..." Alfred drew his uninjured paw along the ground, doodling aimless circles in the dirt. "Can that like, not happen?" He grinned brightly, or well, as much of a grin as a dragon could produce. "I'm Alfred, what's your name?"

"What?" Was this thing trying to mess with him? "Are you joking?! Say what you will, beast, but I cannot allow you to continue terrorizing the people of my town." Arthur narrowed his eyes at the circling claw, unsure what the dragon was planning to do with it. But past that, the knight saw what may well have been blood. He would not kill an injured creature unless he absolutely had to, but there was no reason he had to let Alfred know this.

"I ain't terrorizin' anyone..." Alfred protested, leaning forward a tiny bit and making his eyes wide to get his point across. "I gotta eat too... I try to just take some cattle... But really, c'mon, tell me your name?" Alfred lowered his head and tilted it to the side a bit, and his tail wagged slightly, much like a dog's would.

While he wavered slightly, Arthur didn't dare drop his sword. "Arthur Kirkland, first knight to the king. And you'd do well not to travel to the villages, if you really have no intent to terrorize." This dragon seemed a lot more friendly than his reputation gave him credit for. "However, I am under direct orders from the king."

"Okay, okay, I won't go there anymore, I'll hunt somewhere else." Alfred said quickly, and then paused. "Under orders for what?" He gulped. "Killing me?" He blinked sadly. So this guy was just like the rest. Too bad, he was cute too.

"I must slay you to protect the people, yes." Arthur paused, before sighing and sheathing his sword. "However, I cannot kill an injured creature."

"But I'm not hurting any people!" Alfred protested. Then he looked over his injuries. "Wait, so you're letting me go? Like you're gonna leave and not kill me? Okay good, I thought I was gonna have to offer you all my treasure." Alfred wasn't like other dragons, treasure-wise. He didn't have mountains of gold and jewels or anything, that wasn't his style. His treasure consisted of one object, but it was priceless to him and kept him sane through the long years. However, to keep his life so he'd have a change at breaking the curse in the future, he'd give it up.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at this. "Treasure does not tempt me. But I am far from letting you go." He placed his hands on his hips and continued. "It seems we are at a stalemate. I must follow my orders through and do my duty; but I shall not do so while you are injured. No matter what you say, I cannot trust that you are not a danger to my people."

"So you'll wait 'til I'm fine again and then kill me?" Alfred asked flatly. "Wow. How noble of you." His tail swished against the ground and he started trying to stand. His legs supported his weight now, which was a relief, but when he tried to extend both wings the left one buckled after only extending about halfway. He retracted both of them and took a few steps forward. "I'm going home. Stay out of my cave."

His brow furrowed, Arthur spoke purposefully. "I'll wait until you can put up a fair fight. I do not think you are in a position to talk to me about nobility." He began to walk closer as Alfred moved. "If you think I'm letting you out of my sight, you are sorely mistaken."

Alfred stopped and turned to look at him. "Dude, stay out of my home. Come on, you can camp outside or something, just don't go in. There's only one way in and out. Oh, and don't worry too much, or your caterpillars might get scared and leave you."

"My- what?! I don't have any caterpillars!" Arthur watched the other carefully a moment before deciding on his reply. "All right. But know I will be there." He supposed having to kill the poor thing was enough of an intrusion on its life, and he felt he could trust Alfred's claim.

"Yeah ya do. They're right on your face." Alfred replied and then continued on his way, tail dragging on the ground and leaving a shallow groove in the dirt. His mind was racing, trying to think of what he could do to avoid actually getting killed. By the time he reached the cave and entered, he decided to try and be as friendly as possible, and hopefully Arthur would change his mind. He had a really good feeling about this man, and he only hoped his hunch was right.

Arthur brushed a hand against his face, hoping to get the 'caterpillars' off, before realizing what the dragon was talking about and knitting his brows together again. "That was uncalled for." he said, heat crawling up the back of his neck as he followed Alfred's steps.

Alfred didn't hear him, being curled up on the ground inside the cave. His head was facing the entrance, and he watched Arthur approaching it. It wasn't very deep, but there were other chambers off to the sides.

Without even realizing it, Arthur had reached the mouth of the cave. He glanced around the general area and, true to his word, sat down just outside of it. Letting out a small sigh he allowed himself to relax slightly; he was exhausted after all the hard work of the day.

Alfred watched him for a few moments more before shifting away. The next few days while Alfred healed passed in this fashion, with the dragon mostly stuck in his cave (luckily he didn't have to eat that often, perhaps once every two weeks or so) and Arthur waiting outside. The knight left a few times, but he was always back soon enough. Finally, the day came when Alfred was healed, and he woke that morning with a small ball of tension in his stomach.

Arthur spent his days waiting for Alfred to heal sitting outside the cave and gathering things to survive. After a few days, he knew that it would soon be time to fight, so he made sure to stay at the cave at all times in case, and tried to prepare himself. This had to go well.

Alfred peeked his head out that morning and admittedly flinched when he saw Arthur just waiting there. But he made sure to mask his fear and instead smiled broadly at the human. "Good morning, Artie! It's nice out today, isn't it?"

Arthur turned to face the dragon, and with an eyebrow raised, replied coolly. "The name's Arthur. And yes, I suppose it is." After a brief pause, the knight stood up and walked a little closer to Alfred. "All healed up then?" He then quickly drew his sword and pointed it at the creature. "So."

Alfred gulped. "C'mon man, I thought we had a thing going. At least a little bit? Isn't there anything I could do? You sure you don't want my treasure? Oooh, let me show it to you, and then you can decide!" Alfred said, beckoning him closer with a paw. "Come on, come on!" He retreated back into the cave.

At this, Arthur gave an almost invisible smirk as he replaced his sword in his sheath. Just as he thought. "I told you, treasure does not interest me..." he replied, following Alfred into the cave nonetheless. As he stood in the middle, waiting for Alfred to show him this 'treasure', he spoke again. "...Why don't you fight back?"

"I don't wanna. I'm not a killer, except of cattle, and normal humans do that too." Alfred led him to the back wall, where his treasure was located. It was a great and old tapestry that he found in the ruins of a castle in his first year of the curse. The tapestry depicted a great knight riding a white stallion, holding aloft a shining sword and slaying dark monsters. The fabric was faded in places, but otherwise held up very well. "This is my treasure." Alfred said proudly, looking up at it with shining blue eyes. It was priceless because it reminded him what he strived for, what he once was and what he could be again: human.

_Normal humans...?_ Arthur thought as he followed Alfred to the back to the cave. And suddenly he found himself gazing upon a...well, a work of art. "Alfred..." he murmured as he finally tore his gaze away to look at the creature. His own eyes widened slightly at the look in Alfred's as he observed the tapestry, and Arthur let out a small sight, dropping his gaze. He probably shouldn't do this but...

"The people of my town are...terrified of you. People leave to seek you out only to come back and tell tales of how frightening and powerful you are. But..." He took this opportunity to look at Alfred. "They come back. Alive. Now...is there something you're not telling me?"

"Yeah?" Alfred tore his eyes away from his treasure to look down at Arthur. He lay down on the ground and rested his head on the earth as he mulled over Arthur's words. "Of course they come back alive, I ain't a monster. And uhh, no?" He frowned in confusion. "I cant think of- wait. Maybe mentioning I'm not actually a dragon would be good?"

After thinking for a moment, Arthur seemed to come to a conclusion. "Hmm. That's as I thought." He glanced at the dragon. Just exactly what was going on? How far could he trust this beast?

"That's as you thought?!" Alfred pouted. "Then why were you trying to kill me?! Are you still gonna do it?"

"You don't honestly think I came here thinking that? My intention from the very beginning was to get rid of the creature that caused the sort of fear I witnessed!" Arthur replied, before dropping his gaze and slumping to the floor. "I honestly don't think I can kill something as human as you."

Alfred immediately brightened. "Really? That's awesome, Artie!" He moved closer to the knight and very gently nuzzled him, grinning broadly the entire time. "I knew you were different, I knew I might have a shot with you."

"What are you doing? Get off!" Arthur responded quickly out of embarrassment, moving slightly to the side to duck away. "Don't get all excited yet, there's still the matter of the king's order and the...have a shot at what?"

Alfred just moved after him and nuzzled to him some more, but he was very careful so he wouldn't actually hurt the human. "A shot at breaking the curse!" he replied happily.

Arthur gave up and allowed the dragon to nuzzle him, shifting awkwardly. "What is the curse?" the knight inquired.

Alfred reached out with his paw and then lightly knocked Arthur over, catching him in the forelimb and setting him down on the floor flat on his back. Then, he rested his muzzle on top of Arthur's stomach. "I'm a dragon until I can do some stuff and then I get to turn back."

"Hey-!" He said as he was knocked over, before frowning down at Alfred disapprovingly. "Oh, nice. Wonderful. Very informative, thank you. So you intend to use me to 'do some stuff' and then you can turn back? Brilliant."

Alfred hesitated. "I dunno what I have to do, exactly." he lied. He didn't want to tell Arthur exactly what it would take because he was worried that it wouldn't work then. His tongue flicked out to touch Arthur's cheek experimentally, so Alfred could take in the human's scent.

"Hmph. Well I certainly hope you find out. I don't intend to be your personal assistant." Arthur jumped slightly at the gesture, a sudden blush dusting his features as he stared at the creature, unsure of what to make of that.

Alfred pouted slightly and picked his head up. "I don't want you to be my personal assistant, you're too grumpy. Some help in breaking the curse would be nice, but if you don't wanna then just go back to your boss or whatever." He turned wide, hurt eyes on the man. He'd spent many hours in front of a lake earlier on perfecting this look, and he knew that it looked similar to a hurt puppy. It had saved his life multiple times, and he wasn't afraid to use it; he considered it a more potent weapon than his fire or claws.

"I am not grumpy, thank you very much." Arthur then made eye contact with the dragon, and shifted uncomfortably. "I... How would I be able to go back to the king without having finished my assignment, you idiot? ...Besides, if one of the king's people is in trouble, I would gladly give my help, all right?"

"You totally are, Mr. Grumpypants. And I dunno, just tell him that you couldn't find me or killed me deep in the forest or somethin'." He looked up at the tapestry, and then back at Arthur. "I ain't one of the king's people. Not like this. You don't gotta help me if you don't wanna, I'll just wait for someone else..." His eyes saddened and he looked down at his claws.

"I wouldn't lie about this. If I were to go back I would not lie." The sad look in Alfred's eyes with the words that came next frustrated Arthur, though he couldn't quite place why. "You are a person. Which makes you one of the king's people, which in turn makes you one of mine, got it?" He frowned at the other. Was he really going to have to put it bluntly?

"I'm not, though. Look at me." Alfred spread his wings and sighed. He didn't like being reminded of his inhumanity, and the fact that most would try to kill him on sight didn't help. "But I'm trying..."

Arthur just stared at him incredulously. "A few days ago, when I first came across you, I was unsettled at how human you seemed. You may not biologically be a human being, but you sure as hell are a person... I'm here to stay."

"Really?" Alfred perked up a bit and leaned forward to nuzzle to Arthur again. "Awesome, Artie, you're the best! Leggo, leggo!" He bounded from the cave and then bounced around outside, waiting for Arthur to come out, his previous sad mood gone.

"Uh..." Arthur blinked, a little dazed, before following Alfred out of the cave. _I seem to have picked up something strange._ he thought. "I've told you, it's Arthur." he said as he stepped out. "So...ah, what's the plan?"

"I wanna call you Artie!" Alfred huffed at him, blowing a smoke ring around his torso. "And I dunno. Killing Ivan might break it, I wanna try that."

Arthur simply raised an eyebrow at the first statement, somewhat impressed by the smoke ring, but took some interest in the other's plan. "This was Ivan? Well I'm more than happy to help you with that."

Alfred froze. "You know Ivan?" he asked, somewhat hoarsely. "What did he do to you, did he touch you?!" He bared his fangs and growled deeply, for some reason immensely angry at the thought if Ivan getting his hands anywhere near Arthur.

Arthur looked at the other, his eyebrows raised at this reaction, and he made a mental note not to get on the wrong side of Alfred. "Not...me personally, really." he replied cautiously. "But I do know him, yes."

Alfred raked the ground with his claws, leaving long, deep grooves. "I hate him." he muttered, calming down a bit. Then he crouched down and looked over at Arthur again. "Hop on and let's go."

"Well I would imagine so... Get on?" Arthur wandered over, unsure how to get up, but eventually climbed onto Alfred's back into what he hoped was a comfortable position for the both of them. "Are we going straight there...?"

Alfred stood slowly. "Yeah. But it'll take a few days, maybe a week. He's moved pretty far away from everything lately." Then, with barely any warning, he shot straight up in the air, wings unfurling and beating powerfully to stay airborne.

Alfred's sudden flight startled Arthur, who jumped, before clinging to the dragon tightly. "If I fall, I will kill you." he hissed, his breathing just a little heavier than usual.

Alfred tilted his head back to look at Arthur with twinkling eyes. "Don't worry, the hero'll catch y-" All of a sudden he snapped his jaws shut and quickly swung his head back around, focusing ahead. "I wouldn't let you fall." he muttered instead.

Arthur simply glared determinedly in front, muttering his reply more to himself than to Alfred. "That's easy enough to say when you're not the one liable to falling..."

"Oh, I can fall too." And with that Alfred's wings stopped working and they plummeted toward the ground.

"WHAT?!" Arthur's grip on Alfred tightened, his eyes widening as he clung on with all his might.

They were still a good distance from the ground when Alfred flared out his wings again. They caught the wind and sent them soaring up, and Alfred laughed. "Relax, Artie. You can trust me, I'm an ace flyer. Except when you found me, but in my defense that bird came out of nowhere."

After steadying his breathing, Arthur relaxed his grip a little and spoke. "Don't you ever...pull a stunt like that again..."

Alfred turned his head and winked at the knight. "Sure, Artie. But really, you can trust me."

Simply huffing in response to this, Arthur turned his face away. "I don't doubt your flying skills, Alfred."

"Good. Don't." Alfred kept his flight steady though. "And if you needa stop for anything, just tell me and we can land for a bit."

Arthur further relaxed his grip, looking around as he did so. "I shall. I should be fine for a few hours." Now that he was a little more relaxed, Arthur could properly appreciate the beauty of the landscape from the air.

"Awesome." Alfred replied, and flew steadily on. He concentrated more on keeping his flight as steady as possible than ever before, wanting to make it as comfortable as possible for Arthur. Even though that sword wasn't pointed at his throat now, humans were fickle creatures (he knew from experience), and if he made Arthur too mad, the knight might still hurt him. He wanted to avoid that at all possible costs, because he was really warming up to him. He knew this was the human to break his curse, knew it in his heart, but now he had to get Arthur to like him and care about him in return.

After about an hour and a half, they were flying over a forest road when Alfred sensed a disturbance below. He dipped down lower, using the clouds as cover, and spotted a carriage being set upon by some robbers. His eyes widened.

"Hey Arthur. Look down there." He pointed with a paw and then glanced back at the knight.

Following Alfred's paw to the scene unfolding beneath them, Arthur's gaze hardened. "Fly lower." he commanded, eyes narrowed at his targets. He would not allow something like this to happen on his watch.

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**A/N**: And that's it for now! Updates will be every few days, like 2-4 days. Until next time...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Second chapter~

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Alfred obediently did as told, dipping down even lower so they could get a better view of what was going on. "I'm gonna land over there so they don't see me and flip or something, so you can be all heroic and stuff." he said, feeling a twinge of sadness. He wanted to be the heroic one, but right now he couldn't be.

"All right, well stay in range." Arthur counted only two robbers; this shouldn't be too difficult. When Alfred landed, the knight made his way towards the carriage, staying hidden until he found a good vantage spot. He made a quick plan in his head- ambush the first, try to strike a deal with the second- and exited his hiding spot.

Alfred nodded but crept after him, making sure to stay hidden by the tree line but close enough to offer Arthur help if the knight happened to need it.

His sword drawn, Arthur crept up behind the first robber and clamped his free hand over the other's mouth, holding him in place. "Step away from the carriage." he said firmly to the other, sword ready and pointed towards them. "By the order of the King, I will not allow you to rob these people."

Alfred watched in interest, and couldn't help a small growl from escaping his mouth. He was still hidden by the trees, so hopefully it would seem as though it had come out of nowhere.

The man at the carriage stared at Arthur's sword and did as he was told, raising his palms as he moved away.

Arthur glanced at the carriage to see the victims. A woman and her child...despicable. "Good. Now give back the bag."

Again, the robber complied, dropping the bag next to the carriage. After glaring at the robber, Arthur hit the man in his arm with the hilt of his sword to knock him out, and moved towards the bag, barely taking his eyes off the other man. He then picked up the bag and turned to the carriage to return the family's belongings to them. Of course, he had forgotten that the man standing behind him would probably do anything to avoid arrest, and saw the knight's turned back as an opportunity to escape. And all he had to do was injure him. Easy enough to do with his bare hands, or even that handy-looking stone. He started moving forward and picked up the stone.

Alfred spotted the man about to hurt Arthur, his Arthur, and he was out of the trees like a golden whirlwind. Roaring and flaring his wings, he rushed at the man and snapped him up in his jaws, but only hard enough to hold him still. The robber was still very much alive, if not slightly injured from Alfred's teeth. Once the man was secure and the stone safely out of range, Alfred quieted and simply held him, looking to the knight as to what he should do now.

Alfred's sudden appearance startled Arthur, and he turned, wide-eyed, to see what the commotion was about. He was certainly surprised at this turn of events, and he almost certainly could have dealt with this situation alone (he thought). Arthur gritted his teeth and decided to focus on the family trying to thank him first.

"Not at all, it was my pleasure." he said to the lady, pressing a small kiss to her knuckles with a bow. "Please, stay safe." Then he turned his attention to Alfred. "What," he asked pointedly. "Are you doing?"

Alfred lowered the man to the ground and trapped him beneath one of his paws. "He was behind you and gonna kill you." the dragon explained, shifting uncomfortably under the knight's stare. "I didn't want him to kill you." His voice was low. He'd thought he was doing Arthur a favour and being heroic, but the way the human was glaring at him...

Suppressing a sigh, Arthur couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic. "There were civilians here, Alfred. What if they saw you and are now terrified out of their minds? Or worse, what if they know the price over your head and are making our whereabouts known to the authorities?"

Alfred shrank back a bit from him, averting his eyes. "I just...didn't want ya to die..."

"I know. But..." Arthur approached the dragon and, after a slight hesitation, gingerly placed a hand on his snout. "You need to be more careful." he finished, the tone of his voice almost (but not quite) pleading.

Alfred leaned into the touch. "I will be, Artie. But if someone's about to kill ya..."

"...Then you needn't risk yourself for me." Arthur replied, averting his eyes a little. The next sentence came out a little quicker than intended. "...Thank you."

"I can protect you though! I'm big and strong, and they'll leave you alone!" Alfred looked down at him. "Of course Artie, any time." He smiled as best he could and flicked his tongue out against Arthur's cheek again.

Arthur scowled at the gesture, finding it embarrassing, before murmuring something along the lines of, "I can protect myself." He then took a look at the bodies of the robbers. "What about these people?"

Alfred heard his first sentence. "I know you can, I'm just like, extra protection! I...I don't wanna be alone again." he said quietly. His gaze dropped and he focused on the man beneath his paw. "I dunno. Tie 'em up and leave 'em here."

"Oh gosh, I wasn't meaning it like that." Came a somewhat exasperated reply from the knight. He sighed lightly as he thought about their situation, then agreed to Alfred's suggestion with a thoughtful nod. "We can hardly let them run loose, but who knows where the next town is? Although, unfortunately, I have no rope."

Alfred nodded, still somewhat glum. "I can put 'em up in a really big tree?" he finally offered as a suggestion. "Or hold onto them until we pass a lake and then drop 'em in there..."

Arthur raised his eyebrows at the creature. "Alfred, they may be petty rogues, but I don't think it's exactly necessary to risk their lives like that. I prefer the rope idea."

"Well did you magically get rope somehow?" Alfred asked, raising a scaly eyebrow right back at the human. He had a sudden urge to nuzzle him and that he did, using the pretext of sniffing around for rope. "Mmm, yup, no rope." he said as he pulled away from Arthur, feeling very happy inside.

"Of course I didn't!" Arthur leaned ever so slightly away, frowning skeptically. "Don't tell me you can smell rope, that's ridiculous. I suppose our best bet is to take them with us and then drop them off at the nearest village. The public can deal with them."

"I guess that works too." Alfred lifted up his paw and moved the robber slightly to the side. He then reached over and picked up the second man, bringing him next to the first before finally picking the both of them up in his claws. "Here, climb on and we'll look around for the nearest town." he said, crouching down to allow Arthur to get on.

Arthur scaled the dragon's back and soon enough they were in flight. He picked out a collection of houses close by. "That's probably the village they came from."

"Yeah." Alfred angled towards it and landed in the forest just out of sight of the people there. He set the two robbers on the ground and once more placed a paw over them, keeping them in place. "So what now?" he asked, crouching down so Arthur could get off easily.

As Arthur jumped down, he surveyed the thieves. "Well, that one's unconscious, and the other's pretty damn terrified. Shouldn't be too difficult for me to take them to the town stocks."

Alfred nodded, though he was a bit worried. "Just...be careful, okay? And if they start giving you trouble, call me and I'll be with you as fast as I can, okay?" The dragon fussed around him- meaning he fidgeted and extended his neck out to touch and nuzzle to the knight again but then drew back, and he huffed over him a few times. "Be on your guard and stuff too, don't let them out of your sight."

"All right, I know. Really, Alfred, there's no need to be so worried." Arthur replied, hauling the unconscious one over his shoulder and holding the other in place as he prepared to leave. "Besides, I doubt you'd be in shouting distance even if I did need you."

"Don't worry, I've got great hearing!" Nonetheless, Alfred extended his head forward and very gently touched Arthur's back with the tip of his snout. "Just...be careful, kay?"

Arthur let out a small chuckle at this. "Yes, yes, of course I will." He then set off into the village to see what he could do. As he wandered through this unfamiliar settlement, he noted the lack of people. It was probably due to the slowly darkening sky; judging by the sun, it was perhaps 6 pm or so. He made his way through, searching for a town square of for someone of authority, when somebody appeared in front of him.

"Ah, hello, I was just wondering where one should go with two criminals...?" After being pointed in the right direction without another word being said, Arthur decided this village was definitely too quiet, evening or not.

Alfred watched him leave, creeping forward as much as he could, his eyes fixed on Arthur's back until the knight was lost amongst the houses. His tongue flicked out to taste the air, and he shifted uncomfortably. His senses were tingling, and he inched forward a bit more. He was sure that if someone looked close enough at the trees they'd be able to see the glint of his golden scales, but frankly he didn't care. Arthur was important, Arthur's safety mattered most. He was fast becoming clingy to the knight, maybe too clingy for his own good, but he couldn't help it. Arthur was the first real chance that he'd had in years, and the dragon found himself oddly attracted to the human's personality.

A low cloud drifted over the town and partially covered up the sky and Alfred darted up, using it as cover. This way he could be closer still to Arthur without being seen, and he looked down at the town with his senses tingling more and more with each passing second. He spotted Arthur going down one of the streets and relaxed some, though his tail still twitched anxiously.

Soon enough Arthur came to a set of stocks. "Well I had wanted to talk to someone high up about this, but this will have to do." Arthur murmured to himself, adjusting the man on his shoulder to carry his weight better, and pushing the first thief into one of the stocks. The second posed less of a challenge, considering his unconscious state, so Arthur got the job done relatively quickly. He felt there was something missing, but he hadn't time to look for said person of power, so he headed straight back to the forest after berating the thieves.

Alfred had watched carefully the whole time, and when Arthur started leaving he quickly flew back to the original clearing he'd been in. When the knight walked through the trees Alfred was on him in an instant, gently pinning him down to the ground with his paw while sniffing at him for signs of anything wrong. "Are you okay Artie? Nothing happened, right? You're fine?"

Arthur blinked, his eyes widening as he was suddenly pinned, trying to get a word in edgewise. "Yes- Alfred, I- I'm fine, get off! I'm getting muddy!" he said, and although his voice was frustrated, he wasn't all that annoyed.

"Oh. Sorry." Looking incredibly sheepish, Alfred lifted his paw away and stepped back. "Uhh, sorry Artie. I just got worried." he muttered, looking away and fidgeting slightly.

"Honestly, I do not see how people mistook you for fierce." Arthur replied with the smallest of smiles as he stood up, shaking his head lightly.

"Well, ya gotta be a little fierce when everyone wants to kill you." Alfred said, shrugging. "And I get kinda scary if I'm protecting something or someone."

Arthur gave a nod of his head. "I suppose that is true. You have quite the reputation."

"Yeah. Reputation can be good." Alfred crouched down. "But come on. I'll get us a bit away from here and we can go to sleep, kay?"

"Okay. I suppose it is getting a little late, and it has been a rather long day." Arthur said as he boarded the dragon.

Alfred made sure he was securely sitting down before taking off. He flew in a wide arc around the town so as not to be seen and then continued on his way in the direction of Ivan's dwelling. After about an hour or so he started going lower and lower until he finally landed in a fairly sheltered clearing. "This should be okay." he said, practically flopping down onto the ground, but careful not to hurt Arthur.

Arthur got off, surveying the area and nodding in agreement. "This seems fine. Is it okay to have so little cover, though?"

Alfred lazily reached out and grabbed Arthur in his paw, bringing the knight closer to his warm side. He then stretched out his wing over him, providing a nice roof while still leaving one part open so fresh air could get through. "You've got plenty of cover." he told him, looking down at Arthur with twinkling eyes.

While Arthur tensed at the sudden movement, he quickly relaxed. Looking up into Alfred's eyes, he realized once more what a great and powerful beast lay in front of him, but he quickly banished the thought, knowing that Alfred could just as simply have killed him earlier if he had wanted to. "All right. Here then."

Alfred's mouth turned up in a grin. "Great. If you're hungry or too hot or anything, just tell me."

"Well I haven't eaten since this morning, but I can hold out until we wake." Arthur murmured, settling into a more comfortable position.

Alfred lightly tightened his grip on the knight, pressing him more against the warm scales of his belly. "You sure, Artie? I could go out and catch us something real quick."

Arthur chuckled slightly, mumbling a response along the lines of, "It's fine, I can wait until morning." Then he closed his eyes to try and settle.

"All right." Alfred tucked his head under his wing as well, so his snout was resting near Arthur's body. He snuffled a bit and then out a long breath, relaxing. "G'night Artie. Sweet dreams."

"Good night." Arthur mumbled to the dragon, shifting until he was comfortable, before falling into a gentle rest.

Alfred very lightly nudged him with his nose before curling up a bit tighter and falling asleep himself.

However, the night had other plans for the two adventurers, and soon enough, somebody stumbled into the clearing. Tall, dark haired, and in knight's clothing, he was the very picture of a handsome paladin. As he caught sight of the dragon, he stopped in his tracks and broke into a wide and scheming smirk, before quietly leaving. Perhaps he'd get the larger share for finding it first.

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**A/N**: Feedback is appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Aaaaaand more of the assho- antagonist. Well, one of them~.

* * *

Soon enough he was back, leading a group of knights. He silently instructed them to begin tying the beast up, pressing a finger to his lips lest they wake the creature. At this point, he noticed the odd way in which the dragon was sleeping, and...was there something there under its wing?

As the other knights surrounded the dragon, they began to tie each of its paws. At the same time, the first knight peered into the darkness, curious as to what the beast was holding there. Something vaguely human shaped, for certain.

Alfred vaguely felt the motions through his sleep and shifted, his grip on Arthur tightening a bit. He snorted and snuffled for a while, and then opened his eyes. He was met with the sight of a knight, but this wasn't Arthur, couldn't possibly be Arthur, because Arthur was in his arms. His eyes went wide and he growled in warning.

As soon as the dragon's eyes opened, the knight froze. "Shit." he murmured, backing away and calling out to his group. "It's awake!"

Arthur more felt the growl than heard it, and it woke him with a start. "Alfred? What is-" His whisper cut off when he saw the figure in front of him and he stood rapidly, readying himself.

Alfred's grip tightened on Arthur's body, keeping him down. "No." Alfred told him shortly. He narrowed his eyes and growled again, looking straight at the strange knight as he stood, balancing on three legs and holding Arthur protectively to his chest. "Leave!" he hissed at the intruders.

The knight paused. He knew that voice. It couldn't be- "Arthur?" His face quickly snapped out of its shocked state, and a wide grin spread across it. "Well, well. You're with this beast? Sorry, but we will not be leaving." His eyes flickered to the right of the creature, and the group of knights each passed a length of rope attached to one of its paws to the next, tightening so each leg would be bound together. Or at least, each leg that was on the ground.

"Alfred, I can-" Arthur's eyes widened at the voice and the sight of somebody he knew, before they narrowed at his old colleague. "...Alfred, put me down." he said quietly.

Alfred struggled against the ropes, his wings flapping powerfully in an attempt to help him. When Arthur spoke, however, he stilled and gazed down at the human for a while. Eventually he nodded and lightly set him down, and then proceeded to try and free himself of the ropes, his body contorting into fantastic shapes in his attempts.

"Lancelot." Arthur walked coolly up to the second knight as the others tightened the ropes even further in an attempt to restrain the dragon. "You may want to let him go."

"So it's a 'him' now? Well you know very well why we can't let _him_ go- besides, its parts are worth too much." Lancelot replied with an easy grin. "Could it be you sympathize with the beast? That's treason, you know. Anyway, don't get in the way." He pushed past and grabbed a rope, aiming to tame the creature.

Alfred let out a louder growl when the other knight- Lancelot apparently or something- pushed Arthur to the side. His mouth curled up in a snarl, exposing his sharp teeth, and his blue eyes turned icy. Even the pearly white spikes on the sides of his head rose slightly with agitation. It was clearly a warning not to come any closer.

Lancelot narrowed his eyes, continuing to move to the creature, until Arthur stepped in his way.

"I cannot allow you to do this."

The dark haired knight raised his eyebrows a little, replying with a small, amused smile. "This really is treason. Don't make me fight you." Lancelot drew himself up, proving that he was perfectly prepared to fight him.

Alfred's head snaked forward until he was right in front of Lancelot, glaring down at the human. His jaws opened as he let out another hiss, and the back of his throat glowed red with fired ready to be released. "Leave." he commanded again, his voice as deep and menacing as he could make it.

This, the knight chuckled at. He quickly dodged around the dragon and grabbed Arthur, holding his sword to the blond's neck, his eyes glinting dangerously. "One more move like that and I will kill him, dragon."

Arthur tensed, freezing in place, before giving a small, slow nod to Alfred. There was no doubt in his mind that Lancelot would not hesitate to kill him in order to complete his mission- after all, Arthur had been the same.

Alfred froze as well and his eyes went wide with fear, though he quickly masked it with neutrality. "Let him go." he snapped, fighting to keep his voice calm. He was so stupid, he should have had Arthur in his grip, he should have been protecting him better-

"You talk big, but you can't do anything whilst I got this guy, can you?" Lancelot grinned, glad to have found a weakness. "What sort of spell did you put on him, hmm?"

"Lance, I'm not under a-"

The knight put more pressure on Arthur's neck, interrupting him. "So it's high treason then? Which is it, hm? Treason, punishable by death, or put under a spell by this foul beast?"

Arthur seethed, unsure what he could say to sort this situation. As he looked into Alfred's eyes, his jaw locked and he came to a decision. "I see now. This thing had me fooled, but now that you're here, I can tell reality from fabrication a little easier. Please get it out of my sight." Arthur spoke calmly, his body visibly relaxing a little.

He made a mental note to apologize to Alfred later.

Alfred blinked and stepped back lightly. "A-Artie?" he asked, his voice laced with hurt. "I-I didn't put a spell on you, you know that! I'd never! M'not a thing either! Arthur, please..." He struggled against the ropes that the other humans were _still_ trying to get around him and he snapped warningly at them.

Arthur simply stood, his heart feeling the apology his eyes would not betray, desperately trying to think of another way as he watched a knight successfully haul a rope around his friend's neck and pull it down to the ground, but no other plan came to him.

"I thought that may have been the case." Lancelot said with a sly grin. "We still can't trust you to come with us though." And with that he hit the shorter knight with the hilt of his sword, causing him to fall, unconscious, to the floor. "Now, with us, if you please..._Alfred_, was it?"

Even though he was still reeling from Arthur's betrayal, Alfred lunged forward a bit when the knight fell. "No!" He struggled against the rope and released a jet of flames into the sky.

The dark haired knight chuckled and pointed his sword at the man on the floor. "I warned you. Come with us like a good little boy, or I might be made to force you." He pressed the sword dangerously against Arthur's bare neck, a single droplet of blood forming at the tip.

"Stop!" Alfred immediately froze. "I-I'll go with you, just leave him alone!" He lowered his head meekly, his eyes never leaving Arthur's prone form.

Pleased with himself, Lancelot made sure the knights tied Alfred tightly enough so he would not escape on the journey, keeping his sword trained on Arthur the whole time. When he was sure they had a good enough hold on Alfred, he nodded to the others and they started to take the dragon back with them. _I can leave him here..._ Lancelot thought as he looked back at Arthur. _He probably isn't worth much anyway._

Alfred wriggled uncomfortably within his confines but didn't try anything, his eyes trained on Arthur for as long as he could manage. A very soft whine escaped his throat. He hadn't enchanted Arthur. He would never. He still hurt from the knight's words, but he'd just have to get free and go back to prove it to him. But not now, when Arthur was still in danger. "Where are you taking me?"

"Where?" Lancelot looked up at the beast, his eyes narrowed evilly. "To the butcher's, where you belong. There's a high price going for your blood."

Alfred's heart stuttered. "W-What? No, I don't belong there, let me go!" He started struggling again.

"Well well, it seems you don't care for Arthur as much as you pretend to. I was right to get you away from him, after all. Wouldn't want him to die, now would we gents?" The other knights let out a murmur of amused agreement. Suddenly, Lancelot turned and swung out his sword, pointing it at the creature. "Listen here, you." he growled. "You have done enough to our city. Everybody is living in fear. Do you not realize how much better things will be, how many people will be cheering for me as I bring you in? Now, if you really care for that human, you will face the consequences, because if he is standing in the way of me, I will not hesitate to kill him. Understand?"

Alfred snapped at him, out of both anger and a hint of fear. "Don't touch Arthur. And I haven't done anything to your stupid city, except maybe fly over and take a cow or two."

"Well then. Behave and don't let him get in the way." Lancelot turned on his heel and ordered his men to carry on with the dragon. "If you really cared about him that much, you wouldn't have forced him with you with a spell."

"He's not under any spell!"

The knight raised a dark brow. "Oh? So it's treason then?"

Alfred froze mentally. "N-No..." He lowered his head. "I m-may have played around a bit..." The words were hard to get out, but Alfred had to say them to protect his knight.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Lance murmured, shaking his head, before shouting to the others. "C'mon, let's get this thing to town."

"M'not a thing..." Alfred muttered, mostly to himself. He turned his head around as far as he could manage, but the clearing and Arthur were long gone from his sight.

Meanwhile, Arthur began to wake, his head in a stupor from a likely concussion. Why was he lying on the floor in the middle of the forest? Ah, yes, he had been knocked out by...Lancelot. What, wh- _Alfred_. Shit. He stood quickly, too quickly, his head dizzy. The King's castle in the capital, he would have been taken there, right? Lancelot lived there too, so he should- fall down on the ground again. Arthur never thought it would be this difficult to stand. He had to get up. Why? Why was he so desperate to save Alfred? That's right, it was his duty. He couldn't let another human be killed. No, that wasn't it. Ah, he could think of the reason later. For now, he slowly headed off to the capital to rescue Alfred.

* * *

It took them almost two days to reach their destination. Once they got near the capital, Lancelot and his men skirted the for-now deserted streets to where they planned to hold the dragon. It was an old, sturdy building, reinforced with strong iron, barely able to fit Alfred in it, with pegs to tie him down.

Alfred balked when he saw it, but within minutes they had forced him into it and tied him down. He could barely move, but he could twist his head around a bit. All along the journey he had been straining at the ropes as much as possible, and already places around his body burned. But he did so again, growling and hissing slightly at Lancelot.

"Now I don't usually kill people...but you I wouldn't mind making an exception for."

Lancelot just laughed quietly at this, closing the door as he spoke. "Good luck with that."

Alfred snapped at the knight again when the door closed, and then lay his head down on the ground. He shifted around uncomfortably, until he got into a slightly more comfortable position, and then let out a great sigh. He had to find a way to get out of here. He's tried shooting fire at the ropes, but they only blackened and didn't break. And time was running out...

Arthur reached the capital in just over four days, having walked the first day (trying not to fall over because of his aching head) and then hitched a ride with a trader headed in the same direction. He headed immediately to the castle of the king, all thoughts of his official mission for the dragon's head banished from his mind in favour of his new goal. Lancelot must have brought Alfred to the king; Arthur could find out where he was held and work out a plan from there.

"My liege." Arthur bowed to the middle aged man clad in the finest of clothing.

"Ah, Arthur. It has been a while. Any news?" the king replied.

"No, my liege. Nothing from the others?"

"Unfortunately not."The king barely had time to respond before his right hand man was on his feet.

Bollocks. If Lancelot's men hadn't brought the dragon to the king, what exactly were they planning to do with him? "...I will go and look for it in the East Mountains. May I borrow some things from the weaponry?"

Later, restocked with new armour and a number of...interesting weapons, Arthur sneaked through the town, checking it grid by grid for any clues to Alfred's whereabouts. The streets were becoming more and more deserted the farther he got from the center, until Arthur all but lost hope of finding the dragon here. Just as he began to think that perhaps they'd taken him elsewhere, he saw a woman, talking, frantic and frightened, to another street-goer, voice hushed. He neared, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I saw it, I really bloody did, Cedric! In the alleys- one of the knights 'ad it all tied up!"

"Look, all I'm saying is, I think a few more people would have seen a dragon wandering 'round the streets! Still, if yer right, it's about time that thing was-"

"Where did you see it?" Arthur interrupted.

The woman seemed startled at his appearance, but after taking in his clothing and weapons, pointed down an alleyway. "About two mornings ago. They went down the cobbler's lane..."

Arthur nodded in thanks and set off in the direction indicated.

* * *

"Food." A guard opened the door to Alfred's cell a crack. Not enough to let him escape, but enough to shove through a small amount of meat.

"I really don't get why we gotta feed 'im." the other guard behind him mumbled.

The first knight glared at the other before setting his eyes on the dragon, a playful smirk on his lips. "Been 'ere two days and your knight in shining armour's not come to save you. Guess you really did put a spell on 'im."

"Shut up!" Alfred snapped at the guards, straining against his ropes. They only rubbed deeper into his scales. He was pretty sure there was a section across his shoulders where the ropes had actually loosened some of his scales and now ripped into his skin. It was his own fault for struggling so much, really, but he couldn't help it. He had to get out and find Arthur, and the guards always taunted him when they gave him food. Now he snapped at them and released a thin stream of flame above their heads as a warning. "I didn't put a spell on him, assholes!"

"Oh? Then where is he?"

And where he was, in fact, was just outside the knight's hideout. He peered around the corner, assessing the situation- three knights stationed outside. Mid-rank, judging by their uniforms. Two-story stronghold, probably either a cellar or an emptied armoury downstairs- of course, it was an abandoned battalion base, used to house soldiers back in the war.

Arthur drew his newly appropriated bow, aiming an arrow at the first knight. These guys should be easy to take out for a high ranking knight as himsel- He stilled as the arrow flew past the knight and clunked clumsily against the wall, completely missing its target. Of course, Arthur hadn't trained in archery for a long time, but he assumed it wouldn't be that difficult to pick up again. And now he had just alerted the guard to his presence- _what an idiot!_- so a far more direct approach would be necessary. No matter, this would still be an easy feat. Arthur charged around the corner, and within minutes had knocked each of the guards unconscious. He was now free to move in.

"He's-" Alfred paused when he heard the commotion, and then he stared wide-eyed as Arthur took them out. "A-Artie?" he squeaked out when it was all over. "Artie!" He strained forward as much as he could, trying to reach the knight, ignoring the pain blossoming all over his body. The ropes creaked but didn't break, and they didn't allow him to get into reach of the man. But he flicked his tongue out and desperately licked Arthur's face and chest and arms, practically shaking with happiness and worry. "I'm sorry Artie, I'm so sorry, you know I didn't put a spell on you, you know I'd never do that!" he babbled between licks.

"Alfred..." Arthur breathed, his head snapping up at the voice. One look at his condition and Arthur slipped into action, moving forwards, his voice laced with worry. "Alfred! Alfred, calm down, you'll hurt yourself!" He moved closer in hopes that Alfred would also move back and relieve the strain of the ropes. "I never thought you did, really, Alfred, I..." Arthur trailed off to a sigh, lifting a hand to hold the dragon's face, his emerald eyes wide and sorrowful. "I'm so sorry, i-it was the only way I could think of to even give us a chance, I didn't mean a word of it, I..." Gulp. Arthur took a step back to regulate his breathing and bowed down on one knee, a gesture of his sincerity. "I am deeply sorry for lying to you, for saying such things, and for all the terrible things that have happened to you as a result. You didn't deserve this."

Alfred had indeed moved back a bit, and the ropes around his body loosened a bit. "Y-You didn't mean it?" he asked, blue eyes shining with happiness again. "Oh Artie, I knew it! Well I mean I didn't _know_, but I hoped..." He nuzzled to the knight as best he could and then slipped his snout under Arthur's bowing figure in an attempt to straighten him out. "N-No, don't bow to me, Artie, it's okay. It's all right, look, I'm fine!" he said quickly. He couldn't help nuzzling to Arthur again, his tongue flicking out once more to lick at his face and body with affection.

Arthur smiled affectionately at the other for a moment, before standing. "All right, let's get you out of here." he said, cutting the ropes tying Alfred's front half and neck with his sword.

As he reached around to cut the ropes around his back end, voices drifted from around the corner. Arthur froze in place, his eyes wide. Of course. Why hadn't he thought about the other knights turning up? He turned around, ready to face them as soon as they came around the corner. Lancelot and the other knight drew their swords as soon as they saw Arthur.

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah, so Lancelot's an OC and you guys have permission to dislike him cuz he's an asshole.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: More action! And a lil blood~

* * *

Alfred also saw the approaching knights, and as soon as he laid eyes on Lancelot, something within him snapped. "You." He reared up, flaring his wings, and the remaining ropes snapped under the immense pressure. They gouged a bit more into his body along the way, but then fell off. "Little." Grabbing Arthur in one of his paws to keep him safe, he started stalking forward, surprisingly graceful for walking on three legs. "_Bitch_."

With that, he let out a roar and leapt forward, teeth snapping. He made easy work of Lancelot's companion, knocking the man out within seconds. With Lancelot, he knocked the sword out of his hand and grabbed him as well, standing up on his hind legs and shoving him roughly against a nearby building, up high where there was no chance of him getting free without falling to a possible death.

"I warned you, didn't I?" he growled, baring his teeth. His eyes were narrowed to slits, and the back of his throat lit up with fire again.

"Alfred!" Arthur warned, his voice uneven as Lancelot froze in fear, his eyes wider than Arthur's. The blond knight glanced down to see a shocked couple watching them. "Alfred, put him down. You can't harm another human."

Alfred glared at the knight before him for another long minute, before he sighed. "Arthur is the only reason you're alive. Thank him." he spat.

This spurred Lancelot to speak. "He's also the only reason you're alive. I don't thank treasoners."

Arthur watched them both carefully, his eyes wide, and forced himself to speak calmly. "Alfred, don't worry about it. Let him go."

Alfred huffed, blowing a cloud of smoke right in Lancelot's face. The fire in his throat died and he lowered the paw with Lancelot in it, opening it when it was still a few feet from the ground so that the man fell that final distance. Immediately after, he tightened his grip on Arthur and took off, fleeing the city.

Arthur lay still for a moment, trying to take in everything that had just happened. "...Great. Now we're both fugitives. Bloody dragon." he muttered to himself.

Alfred heard him faintly, and his mood plummeted. His head lowered but he flew on, until they were a safe distance away. Then he slowed and aimed downwards, landing amidst the trees again. He carefully set Arthur down and sat back on his haunches, head bowed. "I'm sorry, Artie..."

"You almost killed a man, Alfred." Arthur frowned at the dragon.

"He- He was gonna try and hurt you again!"

Slightly surprised, Arthur looked at the other before sighing and walking toward him. Carefully placing a hand on Alfred's cheek, he took a small breath before speaking slowly. "Just...promise me you will never kill another human being. Please."

"I promise." Alfred said immediately, leaning into Arthur's touch. Ivan didn't count as a human being anyway. "I won't."

"Good." The knight let out a light breath, watching Alfred with a complex of emotions, his hands under the dragon's muzzle. He then leaned forward and gave him a gentle peck to the tip of his nose.

Alfred felt the gentle brush of Arthur's lips against his nose and he blushed. His scales covered it up, but his human form would be cherry red in the face. "A-Artie..." he murmured, very gently nudging Arthur's cheek with his nose. Oh, how he wished he was human...

Arthur cleared his throat and glanced down to the pouch at his side, a light pink dusting his cheeks. "Ah...we should...tend to our injuries."

Alfred's eyes widened. "You're hurt?!" His head snaked around the knight's body, searching for blood. "Where?!"

"Of course I'm hurt. I had to fight a lot to get to you. I think one of the knights on the way got me on the back." Arthur looked at Alfred's face, noticing the worry etched there, and reassured him. "It's nothing I can't handle. I'm more worried about you, if I'm perfectly honest."

"I'm fine." Alfred rolled his shoulders and winced slightly, but then shrugged. "Just a few cuts, no big deal." He shifted so he was behind Arthur, and nudged his shoulder. "Take your armour off, lemme see."

Arthur hummed skeptically before sighing and shrugging his armour off, revealing a torn tunic stuck to his back with blood, and a number of cuts soaking through his trousers. "It's really not that big of an issue..." he muttered.

"It is! You're hurt!" Alfred's head dipped down slightly. "Because of me...I'm sorry." He leaned forward again and gently started to lick at the injuries, cleaning them and getting rid of the blood.

"Don't be ridiculous! I get injured all the time, this is nothing compared to losing y-" Arthur's berating was interrupted when he hissed as the dragon's tongue touched his back, flinching away. The slight movement caused part of the scab to open, blood dripping down again, dying the tunic even redder than it already was.

Alfred frowned and licked the place more firmly, but still gently, until it stopped bleeding. Then he nuzzled to Arthur, and his tongue wrapped around to lick at the knight's cheek. "It's nothing compared to losing...what?"

Gritting his teeth, Arthur gently hissed through them at the pain as Alfred tended to his wound. "Ah... Well... Compared to losing you." He glanced away, feeling somewhat more awkward saying it now than he did saying it on a spur of the moment.

Alfred moved back, his eyes widening in surprised. "What? Wait, really?" He blinked, and then smiled. "Oh Artie..."

Arthur squirmed a little, uncomfortable with this sort of sappy talk. "Well, yes, really... What of it?"

"I just... I hoped you'd like me, but I guess I never really expected it." Alfred confessed. Now all he had to do was die...

"Do you think I would have come so far on this ridiculous quest if I didn't?" Arthur sighed, still feeling awkward, and walked towards where his satchel had been dropped. "In any case, we should rest somewhere safe for a day or two." he said, taking out a first aid kit. "I'm not sure how secure we'll be here, in our condition."

"You're the best, Artie!" Alfred licked his head again, ruffling up his hair with his tongue along the way. "And yeah, guess not." He shook out his shoulders and wings, hiding his wince. "Here, climb on."

Arthur brushed his hair flat (well, as flat as he could get it) and furrowed his brows sternly at the dragon. "You are not flying anywhere in that state."

"In what state?" Alfred tilted his head to the side. "I'm fine. And besides, you said yourself we gotta get out of here."

"You are injured. Alfred, you were locked up for days, tied with rope, _I can see your skin_, for Christ's sake!" Arthur paused for a moment to think. "We'll have to walk. It's at least a little better that way. There's a river not too far away that's bound to have some caves on it. But I refuse to sit on you and have you fly me anywhere when you are clearly in pain."

"No, walking won't get us far enough away." He sat back on his haunches. "Now, you can either climb on, or I'll carry you in my hand again."

Arthur narrowed his eyes and used the only thing he could think to fall back on- himself. "And what about when your wings stop working and you fall? Or when your leg causes you pain and you flinch, and end up dropping me? Are you willing to risk that? If more people come we can fight them. If we plummet, we fall to our deaths." He picked up the satchel and turned around to leave, all intentions to walk to a hiding place.

Alfred hesitated. "Don't you trust me? I'd rather die myself than let anything happen to you..."

"I trust you well enough; I don't trust your injuries." Arthur said, walking towards the cover of the forest. "Come on, Alfred."

Alfred lowered his head and started out after him, limping slightly.

Arthur looked back at the dragon, feeling slightly guilty, but nonetheless continued onwards. Alfred was already hurt, he couldn't allow him to worsen his condition. Eventually they came to a river, and Arthur started along the bank, hoping to find a suitable cave- big enough for the both of them, surrounded by enough foliage and rock to disguise them.

After a while Alfred noticed a shallow crack in the bank and sniffed at it. "Hey, I think this'll be good." He squeezed into it, finding himself in a cave just big enough to fit him comfortably.

Sliding in beside him, Arthur looked around and gave a nod of consent, dropping his pack on the floor. "This should be fine. I can probably hide the front a little, we can lie low here for a while."

Alfred stretched out on the ground, groaning softly as he relaxed. He reached out and grabbed Arthur again, bringing the knight close to his face. "You sure you're okay?" He nuzzled gently to him.

Arthur winced slightly when he was grabbed, partly out of pain, but partly out of irritation. "I'm fine, Alfred. At least, I will be if you let me get to first aid." he said as he shrugged the attention off him.

Noticing the wince, Alfred let him go immediately. "Sorry, Artie!" He drew back, face drawn with sadness and apology. "Did- Did I hurt you more?"

"No, you oaf." Arthur scoffed almost immediately. "I just thought I should fix up what little pain I _do_ have."

He rummaged through his inventory and drew out the first aid, and left the cavern to wash his cuts in the river. Outside, he carefully peeled off his reddened tunic, revealing the full length of the gash on his back, mottled and dark with dried blood- it would probably add to his collection of scars. Wetting a piece of cloth, Arthur gingerly dropped the water onto his back, becoming tense as the cold water hit his wound. Once he had gotten rid of the worst of the blood, he peeled off his trousers and sat with his legs dangling into the river, taking turns to clean his legs and back.

Alfred poked his head out of the crack and gasped. "Arthur!"

Arthur instinctively turned his head, frowning at the other. "What?"

"Your- Your back..."

"Yes, what about it?"

"It's so..." Alfred lowered his head. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better."

"Don't be ridiculous, you were locked up!" Arthur turned his glare away from Alfred and looked down at the piece of cloth in his hands. "Besides...you were injured too, were you not?"

"Doesn't matter."

"I was the one that chose to save you! I deal with this on an almost weekly basis, it's how I earn my living!" Arthur was breathing deeply now, trying to control his frustrations at the dragon's stubbornness. "Alfred, I have grown up fighting and being injured. This is nothing."

"But- But you shouldn't be hurt anymore...now that I'm here..."

"It's not about that. We should be protecting each other... If anything, you need more protection than I." Arthur continued to wash his back, getting rid of the rest of the dried blood.

"I've survived this long, haven't I?" Alfred asked, squeezing his neck out of the crack so he would be able to reach the knight. He then gently licked at his back to remove the last of the blood, and also so his saliva could clean out the wound.

Arthur gritted his teeth, seething slightly at the sensation. "I suppose that's true." Turning, he looked through the satchel for first aid, finding some thread and bandage, and a small bag of herbs for pain.

Alfred looked at the new supplies cautiously. "What are you gonna do with those?"

"Fix us up. I've got a gaping wound on my back and you've been ripped apart by those ropes." Arthur looked over the materials and pondered over the convenience of sewing his gash up or whether to just focus on Alfred.

"Nono, don't worry about yourself! My spit will cause it to heal quicker! Don't try to sew it up, you might make it worse cuz of the angle!" Alfred said quickly. "And don't worry about me."

Arthur gave an exasperated sigh. "Alfred, we came here to have some time to heal. I can understand it'd be better not to sew myself back together, but at least let me take a look at you myself."

Alfred looked down. "Well...if you really wanna..." He withdrew his head and lay down in the middle of the cave.

Arthur checked he was clean before heading back into the cave to look over Alfred's injuries.

Alfred glanced at him when he entered, his tail wagging a bit. "Hey there, Artie. I'm not really that bad though, but you can check if you like."

Nodding, Arthur moved towards him. "I'd like to be sure."

Alfred spread his wings and flattened himself out as much as he could to give Arthur better access to his back.

The knight wandered around Alfred's body, noting a few sore-looking areas. He tentatively brushed his fingers along a patch of loosened scales along the dragon's shoulder, gauging his reaction. "Did they...do anything to you in there? You must have been pulling pretty hard on those ropes..."

Alfred winced a bit at first, though then he leaned into the touch. "They didn't do anything- well, they taunted me a lot, but mostly I just strained too much."

"Hm." Arthur frowned disapprovingly, continuing to brush his fingers gently across Alfred's skin as he moved around the dragon's body, making a mental note of everywhere that seemed to indicate any pain. "Taunted you about what?"

Alfred winced in a few more spots, though he kept his eyes firmly trained on Arthur's underwear-clad butt as a distraction. It worked very well. "Y-Yeah, they were sayin' how I did put a spell on you and that you abandoned me and stuff..."

Arthur squirmed a little in his guilt. "But of course, that was a lie." He finished checking over the dragon's body and turned to face him, all intentions to ask a couple of questions.

Not able to respond quickly enough, Alfred kept on staring at him for a few moments before finally snapping out of it and wrenching his gaze higher up to Arthur's face. "I hope it was..."

Noticing Alfred's face, Arthur raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Alfred grinned nervously. "Nothing! Nothing at all, nope."

"It doesn't look like nothing." Arthur sighed, deciding to press on regardless. "So, it seems you're in quite a bit of pain, finding it hard to walk, correct?"

"I can walk if I gotta." Alfred huffed. "Fly too."

"Well you don't, until you heal." Arthur said sternly, picking up some of the bandages. "This could be good for your leg, if anything."

Alfred shook his head. "You don't gotta bandage me, really." he said, even though he was kind of longing for Arthur's hands to run across his skin once more.

Letting out another small sigh, Arthur glanced at the dragon's injuries again. "...At least the leg. So you don't move it accidentally." Arthur just wanted him to heal as quickly as possible, and though he'd much rather bandage more, he would settle for just covering the worst of it.

Alfred twitched. "W-Well if you really wanna, I mean, I guess I won't say no to the bandaging..." he muttered.

"Good. I'll...try to be gentle." Arthur carefully started wrapping the bandage around the other's most injured leg, taking care to be as light in his touches as possible. He made sure the bandage was taught to his skin, smoothing it out against the scales until he had covered the leg.

Alfred shivered in delight at his touch, and he turned his head around to watch the knight as he worked. "I know you will, Artie." he said, sapphire blue eyes bright with happiness. "I trust you."

Arthur smoothed the last bit of the bandage to hold it in place, frowning slightly as he focused, before standing back to admire his handiwork. "Thank you." he said with a smile. "Ah, I'll just leave it at that then, shall I?"

"What about my shoulders?" Alfred asked, moving his head closer and snuffling around Arthur's underwear. "You're not gonna bind them after all?"

"Well, if you don't mind it. I thought you didn't want it though..." Arthur frowned at the dragon, unsure whether to be amused or irritated at his actions.

Alfred looked up at him, giving him the puppy eyes. "It kinda hurts bad?" he offered. He just really wanted Arthur to touch him again; he loved the human's touches.

Arthur held in a chuckle, looking away to roll his eyes. "All right, all right. If you're fine with it." He hated to admit- those eyes got to him.

"Awesome!" Alfred lifted his head and pressed his nose to Arthur's cheek. "Mwah!" he said happily, and then shifted so his shoulders would be more accessible to the knight.

"If they hurt that much, I don't see how you have so much energy..." Arthur muttered to himself, unrolling some more bandages and beginning to wrap them around Alfred's shoulders.

Alfred shrugged lightly, and then leaned into his touch. Consequently he leaned into Arthur a little more than was necessary, almost knocking him over.

Reflexively, Arthur reached out and gripped around Alfred's neck, his body tensed to hold himself upright. "Tch, be more careful, will you?" he tutted, still in slight shock.

Alfred paused, and then moved back to his previous position. "Sorry..." he muttered. "I just like it..."

"It's fine, just be careful in the future." Arthur continued wrapping the bandages around him, being careful not to hurt the dragon. "...Like what?"

"When you...stroke me and stuff." Alfred said quickly, and then hid his face in his forelegs.

Arthur stood shell-shocked for a moment, a steady flush creeping up his face.. "Uhh..." After processing this, he suddenly gave a light laugh, breaking into a grin. "You really are just a huge puppy, aren't you?"

Alfred peeked at him and raised his head when he saw Arthur's smile. "Noooo! Imma big scary dragon!" he protested. "But...I just like contact with people. And like this, well...it hasn't been easy." He shrugged lightly again, and looked down.

"Oh, stop it." Arthur said, his widening grin betraying his words, before it fell a little at Alfred's later words. "Hey...there's me now, isn't there?" He smiled lightly, gently stroking his hand along the dragon's shoulders.

Alfred let out a low purr, leaning into the touch again. "Yeah. But...what'll happen once I'm no longer cursed?" His eyes saddened. "You won't have a reason to stick around anymore..."

"And you assume that not having a reason will make me leave?" Arthur spoke softly, watching Alfred's reactions.

"Yeah..." Alfred seemed to further wilt.

Arthur stared at the other a moment, before lightly hitting him on the head. "Don't be ridiculous!" the knight scolded. "Once you're human, we have to go clear both our names and sort this treason matter out! Then we'll need to sort out the situation with Lancelot and the other knights. After that.." He smirked lightly at Alfred. "Well, someone's going to have to look after you."

"Ow!" Alfred stared at him. "But...what if you don't like what I look like, or you get bored of me?" Then his cheeks started to heat up. "T-Take care of me?"

"I honestly don't think I could get bored of you even if you tried." Arthur furrowed his brows, confused at Alfred's reaction. "Yes...? Take care of you."

"I'm a grown man! I don't need anyone to take care of me like I'm a child!" Alfred pouted, but was in a happier mood. He looked at Arthur and blew a smoke heart around him.

Arthur, chuckling slightly, replied with an "If you say so," and gently smiled at the other. "Come on, let me finish this bandage. It's not stuck properly yet."

Alfred relaxed and lowered his torso to the ground so Arthur could reach it, though he was pouting again. "I am! My human form's nineteen!"

"Doesn't mean you don't need looking after!" Arthur replied, finishing up the bandaging and making sure it was secure. "...Nineteen?"

"Yeah! Well, I was a dragon for like twenty-five years now, but I'm still nineteen as a human! Ivan is a bastard, but at least he made it so that my human body doesn't age." Alfred peered down at him, and then suddenly reached out and gently took him in his paw, bringing him closer. "How old are you?"

Arthur jumped slightly at the sudden paw at his back. "Ah, I'm twenty-three."

"Whoa, that's so young!" Alfred brought Arthur up to his chest and snuggled to him lightly. "And you're so awesome and heroic and stuff!"

Finding the closeness comforting, Arthur leaned into him gently. "It's not that young. I mean, I was born into the profession. And I'm older than you, apparently."

Alfred felt his heart swell when Arthur leaned into him and he held him closer, dipping his head down to rest his chin against Arthur's back. "I'm technically older though. I was born waaaay earlier." he said softly.

Arthur hummed in agreement. "But then you got turned into a dragon at just nineteen, correct? That must've been difficult. Certainly tougher than just being a knight..."

Alfred's eyes darkened. "It was my own fault and bein' stupid that led to that." he muttered.

The human noticed the change in tone and sighed guiltily. "I'm sorry, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to..." Of course, Arthur would long for that not to be true, and he was curious as anything as to how this had all come about, but...he didn't want to make Alfred uncomfortable.

Alfred set him down and moved a bit away from him, suddenly nervous and agitated again. "N-Nah, you might as well know what you're traveling with..." he said in a very small voice. "Just...please don't hate me?" Over the years, Alfred had noticed that not many people supported a man falling in love with another man, especially at the time when he was still human.

"Of course not." Arthur reassured him. He was worried- what on Earth could Alfred had done that would make him this nervous? But the knight knew it couldn't be too terrible- at least nothing on purpose, surely? "Please. Go on."

"I..." Alfred hesitated, and then lowered his head. "I fell in love...with Ivan." he got out hoarsely. "Then he showed his true emotions and started scaring me so I tried to leave- and he cursed me." He moved even farther away, his eyes screwing shut in apprehension.

Something started to flare up inside of Arthur, and his eyes grew from concerned to somewhat angry. "Scaring you how? What did he do?" He spoke quickly, pushing aside all his emotions on the matter besides his anger of Ivan doing something such as this to Alfred.

Alfred flinched a bit. "Just...just dark magic and stuff...he was talking about sacrifices t-too... And when I tried to leave, he screamed at me that I betrayed him and his love and cursed me like this..."

As Alfred talked, Arthur's breathing got heavier and heavier with fury. "I'm going to kill that bastard!" he shouted, slamming a fist on the floor, before looking furtively at the entrance and forcing himself to calm down, at least a little. "Sorry." he muttered.

Alfred flinched more at his outburst. "I'msorry, I'msorryplease-!" He hid his face in his forelegs again, but peeked out at the knight when he apologized. "It's okay, Artie..." he said, his voice soft.

Arthur stared, shocked at Alfred's reaction. He quickly stood up and walked towards the dragon, reaching out a hand to comfort him. "Alfred, I'm so sorry." he almost whispered. While he knew his outburst was shocking, he had not expected this strong of a reaction from the dragon, and it was rather frightening to see his friend in that state. He hoped he'd never cause it again.

"I-It's all right, Artie." Alfred whispered back, not able to help another flinch when Arthur initially touched him. But then he hesitantly leaned into his touch. "You- You don't care...that I like guys?"

Arthur twitched at the flinch, not liking Alfred's uncertainty one bit. "Is that what this was about?" He took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't see how that changes who you are. One can't help who they love..."

"Y-Yeah..." Alfred nuzzled to him. "Really though? You're okay with it?"

Arthur gently stroked Alfred's cheek. "Of course."

The dragon let out a long breath of relief, and he leaned more into Arthur. "That's- that's awesome." His voice shook a bit from the emotion.

Smiling lightly, Arthur comforted Alfred with soft touches and soothing strokes for a few more moments. "Now then, you're probably getting a little tired and hungry, aren't you?"

Alfred mewled in pleasure a bit, shifting so he was completely encasing Arthur, both as a protective means and just to get closer to him. "Yeah. Haven't eaten in a while, but I can make it another day. But hey, how do you know Ivan?" he asked, tilting his head into Arthur's hands.

"Hm. Well, living in the city such as I do, you hear rumors. And due to those rumors, my father was the one who was sent out to investigate- much like I was to investigate you. I was young at the time, so I didn't really know what was going on." Arthur replied in an almost monotonous tone, his eyes focused on the past rather than the present. "Are you sure you don't need food? I can go get some..."

Alfred leaned over and nudged Arthur's cheek with his muzzle. "I'm fine. But are you all right, Artie?" he asked softly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..."

Arthur glanced at him and gave a slight, reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Alfred. I wasn't even sure Ivan existed until you brought him up the first time." He couldn't burden Alfred right now, not when he had already put up with a lot that day.

"That's not the truth, Artie..." Alfred said lowly. "You obviously know him...but if you don't wanna tell me, I won't force you." He nuzzled to the man again, and then let out an annoyed grunt. "Fuck, I wish I was human so I could hug you properly..."

The knight let out a small laugh through his nose, genuinely happy at how much Alfred seemed to care, and wrapped his arms around the other's neck. "This'll do, won't it?" he asked. "It's not that, really. I honestly didn't know if he was real or just a rumor. In fact, you bringing it up is mostly what made me trust you."

Alfred arched his neck so his chin was pressing against Arthur's back, holding him more closely against himself. "But I wanna actually be able to hug you..." he pouted. "And yeah, I guess..."

"I know. We'll get to Ivan soon enough and kill that bastard. Then you can, yes?" Arthur sighed and ran circles absentmindedly along the back of Alfred's neck. "But I'm fine now, really."

"Yeah." Alfred said, thinking about what he would have to do. "We'll kill him, and it'll all be okay." He only hoped Arthur wouldn't hate him too much afterwards. But all other thoughts were soon chased out of his mind as he whimpered in pleasure again under Arthur's fingers. "Not many people can reduce dragons to mewling messes, you know." he joked.

Arthur wondered if, after hearing Alfred's story, the dragon would indeed be able to kill Ivan. It had been twenty-five years, after all, but if what he had said was true then...well, surely it'd be difficult to kill someone you'd been in love with? His train of thought was interrupted by Alfred making some rather interesting noises. "Oh? And are you trying to say I'm an exception to that?" Arthur grinned, continuing his movements.

"Ahh- Ahhh, that's the spot, yeah, yeah, more Artie more..." Alfred fully relaxed, letting out soft squeaks. "Yeah, yer an exception cuz you're the only one to try an' get to know me."

Unable to stop himself, Arthur chuckled at the other's reaction, still circling as asked of him. "Ah, so getting to know you means making you act like this, hm?" Though he would never show it, Arthur was rather glad to be an 'exception'.

"Partially." Alfred sighed softly, becoming slightly more serious. "You also gave me a chance..."

Arthur smiled at this, slightly tightening his hold on Alfred. "You deserved it."

Alfred felt his grip tighten and he purred, his heart skipping a beat. Then, he suddenly stiffened. _No. Oh no, oh please no..._ He closed his eyes, his heart thumping erratically and his neck hypersensitive in the spots where Arthur was touching him. Happiness flooded his stomach, while dread clouded his mind. But there was nothing he could do to stop it; he had already fallen for the knight.

* * *

**A/N**: Way to go Alfred-

Feedback appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Sorry for long gap, but I had a very busy week. Anyways, more progression!

* * *

The dragon's change in atmosphere did not go unnoticed by Arthur. "Alfred?" he asked quietly, head turning slightly. "Alfred, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah Artie, I'm- I'm all right..." Alfred murmured back, his voice trembling.

Arthur's eyes grew wide at the tone of Alfred's voice, and he turned his head as far as he could towards the other, shocked at his sudden change. "Alfred, what's wrong, what is it?!"

Alfred shook his head rapidly. "No, no, it's nothing." he said quickly, closing his eyes.

"It is _not_ nothing!" Arthur sighed and glanced down. This change and Alfred's tone were almost frightening. "Look, if you really don't want to tell me what's wrong then...let me know if I can help?"

Alfred wanted to sob. _Yes, yes you can help by loving me back and not hating me and being perfect-_ He forced himself to relax, and let out another purr, this one slightly rough. "I'll be fine, Artie, I promise."

Arthur took a moment to think before replying quietly. "All right." he said, giving Alfred a reassuring squeeze. "I'm here if you need me." He was hurt that Alfred wouldn't tell him something that seemed to cause him so much pain (especially since it may have been Arthur's fault- how was he to avoid upsetting the dragon in the future?), but he did not want to pry where he shouldn't.

Alfred hesitated. "I did it again, Artie..." he said softly, his voice trembling. "I fell for another guy..."

Arthur sighed softly in an attempt to comfort the dragon, replying with a quiet voice. "I already told you, that's..." But then the pieces clicked into place. He couldn't possibly mean... But then, there was no one else... "...Who?" Did he really want to know?

A long silence stretched out between the two of them. "...You." Alfred finally whispered, trying to move away from the knight.

Arthur stood there, unable to think properly, frozen in his position as his brain repeated the same thoughts over and over again and his face began to heat up. So Alfred loved him? Romantically? How should he react to this? This was not a usual situation- he had never really been confessed to, much less by...well, a man cursed into a dragon. He tried to form a coherent sentence but all that came out was a small stutter.

"I'm sorry." Alfred whispered. The dragon pushed the knight gently away from him and then curled up into a tight ball.

Blinking back into reality, Arthur took a moment to adjust and watch Alfred sadly. "I...no." he said, moving towards him and placing a hand on his back. "Don't be sorry. You've...nothing to apologize for." Arthur's heart almost broke in two at the sight of this- and it was all the worse that this pain was caused by him.

"You must really hate me now..." Came a quiet voice from the center of the ball.

The look of utter shock and sadness on Arthur's face was one he would hope never to see on another living being's face. "Oh, Alfred..." he whispered. "I could never hate you."

Alfred shifted and his eyes peeked out, glittering blue flames against the darkness. "Really?" he asked in a small, hopeful voice.

Glad to have at least gotten a small positive reaction from the dragon, Arthur gave him a small smile. "Of course, really. How could I hate you?"

The dragon moved a bit again, and now his nose poked out of the ball. "But you don't like me back..." he said in a sadder tone again. "Which is okay!" he added quickly.

Arthur glanced at the floor, both hanging his head in guilt and trying to sort out his thoughts and emotions. "I don't...but...I think I could."

"Not outright no, then." Alfred said with forced cheer.

Arthur looked back up at Alfred, trying desperately to think of what to say. "Alfred...I-I don't know how I-" Arthur used this pause to sigh and reorganize his thoughts, forcing himself to be as open as possible. "...I'm not used to this. I don't know how I feel or..."

"It's all right." Alfred continued in that same tone. "We- We should get some sleep though, right?" His nose retreated back into the ball.

Arthur stared at the dragon sadly, before responding quietly. "...Yeah." The knight looked around. _It's fine. I'm perfectly used to sleeping on the floor, in the cold. I do it all the time anyway._ He retrieved his still wet clothes from outside and brought them into the cave, lest they get rained on, and then, with a final glance at the golden scales, resigned himself to the ground.

The blue eyes watched him sadly for a while, before Alfred abruptly reached a paw out and pulled Arthur into the ball as well, to give him warmth and more comfort than the floor. "G'night, Arthur..." He purposefully didn't use the nickname, and he had to resist the urge to snuggle to the knight.

Arthur first tensed up, but then relaxed in Alfred's warmth. He told himself it was just because it was warmer and more comfortable- of course it was. There was still an air of tension around them, but at least Alfred was talking. "Good night, Alfred." And on second thought, "Please sleep well."

"You too, Arthur." Alfred couldn't help himself- he light touched the knight's back with his nose. Then he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Arthur smiled at the touch and comfortably snuggled slightly into his pillow of dragon, and after spending a while thinking, finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Alfred woke first. He very carefully uncurled, making sure not to jostle Arthur or wake him. Holding the knight in his paws, he stared down at him for a moment before bowing his head and ever so gently snuffling against his chest. Then he placed the knight on the floor, in the spot where he had been laying- which was still warm- and scrawled a message in the dirt by the entrance with his claw. _Off hunting. Be back soon. Sorry, Arthur._ Then he swept from the cave, unfurling his wings and taking to the sky.

Arthur woke confused, his mind still in turmoil over his dreams and unsure about what seemed wrong that morning. He lay there, surrounded by the dust, blinking away the tiredness. Ah- Alfred! The knight stumbled up and dashed for the entrance, stopping suddenly as he saw the note in the dirt. _Ah, he's just hunting..._ Arthur sat at the edge of the cave, a small amount of worry not dissipating, but he couldn't leave in case Alfred came back while he was gone.

Alfred returned less than an hour later, holding a deer leg in his paw for Arthur to have to eat if he wanted it. He entered the cave quietly, in case Arthur was still sleeping, but froze when he saw him awake just inside the entrance. "Oh. H-Hey, Arthur."

Arthur looked up at the voice, smiling slightly at Alfred's return. "Welcome back."

Alfred fidgeted a bit. "Thanks." He carefully placed the deer leg in front of Arthur. "Here you go, if you're hungry." He then retreated into the back of the cave, away from the knight.

Face falling again, Arthur moved towards Alfred and held out the leg. "Share?" he offered with a hopeful shrug.

"I already ate." Alfred said quietly, but upon seeing Arthur's face fall he felt horrible. "It's for you." he said, pushing past his inhibitions to lightly nudge Arthur with his nose. He then rested his head on the ground, right next to him.

"Thank you." he said quietly, before glancing at the dragon and gently petting the end of his muzzle. "I'm still annoyed you went out hunting alone, though." he chuckled.

Alfred snuffled into his hand. "Why? I was fine. Imma big scary dragon, remember?"

"Heh. Yes, a big scary dragon with a bandage on its shoulders and leg." he cooed teasingly, like one would to a baby.

Alfred huffed another smoke ring around him. "Hey! They're battle scars!"

"I'm fairly sure 'battle scars' don't come pre-bandaged." Arthur replied with a smirk. "And either way, you're injured."

"Soooooo?" Alfred rubbed lightly against him. "I can still hunt!"

"Yes, but you should be resting, not moving."

"I'll rest now for a bit, and then we'll start moving later on today."

"Okay, but we'll take it a little slower, just for today." Arthur got up and retrieved his items from the other side of the cave, before sitting himself down next to Alfred again. "I should probably get a fire going for this, then." he said, holding the deer leg aloft.

Alfred coughed, a thin tongue of flame shooting out of his mouth and igniting to the floor before them, not needing any wood to burn. "There ya go, Arthur."

Arthur blinked in surprise, laughing under his breath as he held the meat over the fire to cook it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Artie." The nickname slipped out, and Alfred licked Arthur's cheek with his tongue before he could stop himself. Then he froze and moved his head a tiny bit away. "Sorry." he muttered quietly.

At first glad that Alfred seemed to be feeling better than last night, Arthur frowned when the dragon's mood changed again. "Why are you apologizing?"

"F-For licking you and stuff..."

"There's no need, really." Arthur felt terrible, and had no idea how he could explain that he really didn't mind.

"Still...probably shouldn't do that anymore."

Arthur sighed and turned towards the fire, focusing on his cooking. "Well. That's your decision, not mine." he mumbled, more to himself than the other.

"What do you mean, not your decision." Alfred shifted a little bit closer. "You don't like me, so I probably shouldn't kiss you anymore."

With a slight sputter, Arthur glanced back at the dragon for a moment, his cheeks a little more heated than usual. In the process he almost dropped the deer into the flames, but he caught it before it was too late. "I-I wasn't aware that was counting as a kiss." He suddenly remembered something- "Besides, I kissed you once, and I didn't think you liked me either."

"How else am I supposed to kiss you in this form?" Alfred asked, raising a scaly eyebrow. "And that...that was like a friendly kiss, right? Just a little friendly kiss on the nose..."

"Well, I don't know, I just...I thought _that_ was a friendly thing." Arthur replied quickly. "And yes, I suppose it was friendly. I mean, is friendly." _Damn it_.

Alfred looked down, and decided that he couldn't take the awkwardness between them for any longer. "Look, Arthur. I really, really like you. I'd do anything for you; I'd even die for you. Is there any way you'd like me back? Ever?" he asked, lifting his head, eyes staring intensely into Arthur's.

Arthur, shocked by Alfred's blue eyes lasering into his own, was still for a few moments. Eventually, he gave a small smile. "I said before, I think I could." he said quietly.

"R-Really?" Alfred squeaked. "Please tell me you're not just saying that, please mean it." _Please be serious about me having a shot at wooing your heart..._

"Of course I mean it, I'd never lie about that sort of thing." he replied, with mock indignance.

Alfred smiled hopefully and inched closer to him, licking all over his face. "Can we- can we go back to how it was before?" he asked when he pulled back.

Arthur laughed at the other's actions, batting him with his hand and straightening his face into just a smile when Alfred moved away. "I would like nothing better."

"That- That's good, Artie." Alfred said, and then attacked him with his tongue again, his paw simultaneously reaching out to put the deer leg off the fire so it wouldn't burn. "You know you love my kisses!"

"You're ridiculous." the knight exclaimed, suppressing his laughter.

"Just for you." Alfred replied, his tongue lapping at Arthur's cheek.

Arthur accidentally let out a snort, covering it up with a cough, barely fighting back a grin. "Oh, stop it, honestly. I should eat."

Alfred moved back, pouting. "Fine. After you eat, we'll move out again, kay? I wanna get this over with as soon as possible."

"All right, all right." Arthur ate the leg quickly, saving a small amount to have later (to save on hunting time), and then gathered his most essential items, putting on his now dry clothes.

"Aww..." It slipped from Alfred's mouth upon seeing Arthur cover up more of his delicious body, but he quickly masked it with a cough. "So." he said, crouching down so Arthur could climb on. "Let's go?"

Arthur climbed upon Alfred's back, feeling like it had been a while since he did that. "Land in an hour or if it starts to hurt, okay?" While he knew it probably wasn't that bad, he couldn't help but be worried.

"Will do." Alfred replied, but it was a lie. He wouldn't land unless it was absolutely necessary, even if he was in extreme pain. He squeezed through the opening to the cave carefully, and then took off. The landscape whooshed by beneath them as they sped on towards Ivan's dwelling. "We'll be there like tomorrow if I push myself!" he called back to Arthur over the whistling wind.

Holding on tightly, Arthur watched as the ground and the sky went by. "Don't push yourself! What good will you be fighting Ivan if you injure yourself further?" Truth be told, he was rather nervous about fighting this infamous enemy, with all the ignored memories that came with the dark rumors. And he was certainly even more nervous for Alfred's sake.

Alfred hissed and released a jet of flames at the forest below- luckily, it didn't reach the trees. "I'll kill that bastard if it takes my last breath." he swore.

"Alfred, really, calm down a little. You won't be able to if your head's unclear. " Arthur replied, a worried tone settling over his words.

"My head's not unclear." Alfred said. "I'm just determined. Don't worry about me Arthur."

"Alfred, I will not allow you to push yourself. You can't keep flying with no breaks..."

"I won't fly with no breaks." Alfred reassured him. "I'll just fly a bit faster than I normally would."

Arthur let out a long, drawn out sigh, frustrated at the dragon's stubbornness on the matter. "You had better." he muttered. "And don't go too fast."

In response to him, Alfred just increased his speed.

"Alfred!" the knight snapped, increasing his grip on the dragon. "Stop it! Land!"

Grumbling, Alfred considered ignoring him, but then decided he didn't want Arthur any madder at him so he angled downwards and landed amongst the trees. "What?" he asked, his voice a bit sharp.

Arthur got off to talk to Alfred face-to-face. "Calm down. All right? You are getting far too worked up right now." he said sternly.

"Worked up?" Alfred leaned down so his head was on Arthur's level. "Arthur, I've been under this damned curse for over twenty years. I've finally got a shot at breaking it."

"Yes, and you will waste that shot if you burn yourself out!" Arthur paused for a moment to sigh and calm his own irritation. "Alfred, letting your heart rule your head and acting like a...bloody child about this isn't going to help." His voice became softer as he continued, moving closer to the dragon in the process. "You're still injured. I know you don't think it's that bad, but you must know I'm concerned about you. Hell, I'm still injured. It's no use getting overly frustrated and having that affect you so much."

Alfred frowned. "I'm not acting like a child! And don't you tell me about burning myself out, you don't know how far I can go!" He softened for a moment and nuzzled to Arthur. "I know you're worried, but don't be. I can do this."

Arthur's face softened as well, worry and sadness etched onto his features as he brought a hand to Alfred's muzzle. "We need to be a team, Alfred." he murmured quietly. "You need to listen to what I say and not...get annoyed over it. And work with me. Please."

Alfred sighed, the tension going out of him. "All- All right. I'll try. I just wanna get this over with, but I trust you, Artie." He leaned into Arthur's hand a bit, closing his eyes. "...Could ya kiss my nose again?"

A relieved smile crossed Arthur's face. "Thank you." he said quietly as he leaned towards the dragon and placed a gentle kiss on the end of his nose.

"Yeah. I don't like fighting with you..." Alfred squeaked happily at the kiss and wriggled in his spot. "Again, Artie!"

Arthur let out a small chuckle and tapped Alfred gently on the spot he had just kissed. "You can get another when you're good."

Suddenly, a rustling came from the nearby bushes- moving towards them. Arthur turned quickly, ready to fight.

Alfred froze, and then his head snapped towards the source of the sound. Not about to make the same mistake with Arthur again, he picked the knight up and placed him safely on his shoulders, out of harm's way. "Who goes there?" he snapped, baring his teeth.

* * *

**A/N**: Eheh.

Eheheh.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: And the fierce enemy is-

* * *

Arthur frowned and huffed a little in dislike at being placed delicately out of harm's way, but kept a careful watch on the area the sound was coming from. Sure enough it was getting loser, until the leaves could be seen rustling, and out stumbled...a small rabbit. Arthur stared at it for a second, followed by an amused clearing of the throat a raised eyebrow at the dragon.

Alfred's eyes widened at the rabbit and he immediately relaxed. "Hey there, lil' buddy!" He reached out and caught the rabbit in his paw. The small creature was terrified and tried to run but Alfred kept making small hushing and reassuring noises at it, and he licked it gently in hopes it would calm down.

"Alfred, put the poor thing down." Arthur said with a roll of his eyes, although he was grinning. "It probably thinks we're going to eat it." As he said this, the rabbit froze in place, resigning itself to that fate.

"I don't want it to be afraid..." Alfred nuzzled to the rabbit and licked it more, desperately trying to convey that he wasn't going to harm it. "And we're not eating it."

"Well I somehow doubt that touching it_ with your tongue_ makes it obvious that you won't eat it."

Alfred immediately pulled his tongue back and simply held the rabbit in his paws, looking down at it with a warm gaze. "It's all right, little dude." he murmured. "I won't hurt ya."

The small animal looked up at Alfred with wide eyes, twitching its nose, as if wondering if this was the truth. At the same time Arthur leaned forward, resting his head in his hands to get a better look at the rabbit.

Alfred snuffled softly a bit, ever so gently touching the rabbit with his nose before moving his head back again. The rabbit wasn't quite as scared as it had been, something that Alfred considered a rather large victory, but he decided that if the rabbit still looked uncomfortable in a few minutes, he'd just let it go. "It's all right..." he murmured.

After a few long moments, the rabbit resumed its usual routine of nibbling at its paws and cleaning itself, though it was still a little tense in case it did need to run.

"Look, Artie..." Alfred whispered, watching the rabbit with awe. He slowly lowered his head until it was resting on the ground in front of the rabbit, still looking at the small creature warmly.

"I see, I see." Arthur said as he smiled fondly at the dragon. The rabbit glanced up, interrupted for a second, before continuing.

Alfred watched it for a moment before giving it a final lick and opening his paws to gently deposit the rabbit on the ground. When it was safely on all fours, Alfred immediately scooted back to give it some room and to see what it would do.

The animal froze when it touched the ground, surprised at its new surroundings. Once it had gotten used to being the grass again, it hopped a little and nibbled on the grass, settling back into its environment.

Alfred hummed in pleasure. He lifted his head and turned it to look at Arthur, his mouth gaping open in a wide grin. He then closed it and bent his neck more so he was touching Arthur's cheek with his nose. "Artie? Does that count as me being good?" he asked in hopes of another kiss.

Rolling his eyes, Arthur fought back a smile of his own, replying with a forced sigh. "All right, I suppose it does." he said as he turned his head to give a small kiss to the end of Alfred's nose. _Christ, anyone would think you've gone soft, Arthur._

Alfred hummed louder, closing his eyes in contentment. "You're the best, Artie, you know that?" he asked softly.

Arthur's face went blank at this. "No, I'm...really not." he said as he looked away, a light nervous laugh escaping his lips as he did so.

"Yeah you are!" Alfred insisted, licking his cheek. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just honestly not that great, all right?" Arthur replied, slightly snappy.

"Yeah you are!" Alfred reached up and picked him up, bringing the knight to the front of his body so he could nuzzle to him better. "Arthur, tell me what's wrong? You're an amazing knight..."

"No, I am not!" Arthur shouted, turning to glare at the dragon, teeth gritted. His face softened in guilt as he realized his behaviour, and he looked toward the ground.

Alfred flinched back at the tone of his voice, and he whimpered a tiny bit. "I-I'm sorry, Arthur... But could you tell me? What's wrong? Why don't you think you're that great?" he asked quietly.

Arthur sighed and lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as he furrowed his brow. Eventually he seemed to come to a decision, and he opened his eyes a crack. "I killed a person once, Alfred."

Alfred tilted his head to the side. "Why?" he asked, genuinely curious. There was no judgement in his expression, only warmth, and he slipped one of his claws under Arthur's chin to lift his face so he could see it.

Arthur's eyes widened, the expression on his face filled with unreadable pain. "Alfred, he was a good man. And I got angry." His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, and he took a moment to breathe before continuing. "And my- ...Other people have died because of me too. Good knights don't let that happen."

Thinking about Arthur's words for a few minutes, Alfred came to a conclusion. "I don't care." he said, gently licking at Arthur's face. "What's past is past, can't do much to change it. You're a good person now, so that's all that matters."

Arthur stared at him, the tension leaking out of his body and a multitude of emotions all fighting for dominance over his face. He set his jaw and settled for bowing his head, unable to look Alfred in the eye, with nothing but a whispered 'Thank you,' to convey the feelings that he seemed unable to express.

Alfred heard the words but got a bit worried when Arthur suddenly lowered his head. "A-Artie? Are you all right? It's fine, it really is..." He brought the knight close to his chest in a strange hug, and he snuffled into Arthur's hair. "It's all right..." he murmured.

Relaxing in the embrace, Arthur closed his eyes and allowed himself to nuzzle back slightly. "Oh, Alfred..." he said with a sigh, reaching a hand out to gently stroke the dragon.

"What?" Alfred purred against his touch, though he was still worried. "Oh Alfred what?"

"You really are so good." And with that, he leaned up and planted a careful kiss on his cheek. This wasn't a simple reward, or a peck given willy-nilly because it was asked for- no, this was more akin to the first one, small and meaningful and full of emotions Arthur could not fathom into words.

Alfred froze, and then he blushed, face growing so warm that even his scales took on a rosy hue. "I- I'm just tryin'a be worthy of you..." he muttered, his ears laid flat against his head in pleasure. _I love you, Arthur..._

"Well, you surpass worthy." Arthur replied, ever so slightly smirking at Alfred's blushing. He paused for a moment before continuing, regaining his cool composure. "Now, don't ever make me say something so embarrassing again."

Alfred shook his head lightly. "Nah I don't. Not yet." He leaned his head down to Arthur's level and smirked at the knight. "Oh, so that was embarrassing for you?" He licked the knight's cheek. "I won't though, if you don't wanna."

Arthur frowned at the first comment. "I'm fairly sure that's my choice to make, not yours." he said, turning his head. "And it wasn't...that embarrassing, per se..." Though his face told another story.

"Yeah, but I wanna feel worthy of you too." Alfred reasoned. He decided to drop the topic though, and set Arthur back on his shoulders. "You wanna move on? Try and get a bit closer today? I was thinking that when we're nearby we can stop in a cave if we find one and rest for a few days so that we've got our strength back."

"All right, that sounds good. Let's get going then." Arthur held on tightly to Alfred, prepared for the flight.

Alfred took off again. They flew without stopping for the rest of the day, and though his injuries twinged a bit, Alfred didn't slow until the sun was setting. They had passed over miles and miles of thick, deep forest, and while at first settlements below them had been a fairly common sight, they hadn't seen one for over two hours. Eventually he found a crevice up high in the mountains where they were sure to be safe, and landed there. "Will this do?" he asked, looking around. "I'll keep ya warm from the winds and stuff if anything."

Arthur looked around as well, surveying the area. "This should be fine, yes. What about you though?"

"My scales will keep me warm. Don't worry about me." Alfred said cheerily, crouching so Arthur could get off.

"Hm. Well, if you're sure." Arthur hopped off and put his pack on the floor of the cave, stretching after the long flight. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, don't worry." Alfred repeated. "It doesn't hurt that much." He entered the cave and stretched out as well, and then lay down, crossing his forelegs elegantly over each other. He rested his head on the ground next to Arthur and looked up at him. "You hungry? I can go hunt quickly." he offered.

"I still have a little of that deer left from his morning." Arthur replied, nodding to his items on the ground as he sat down. "But if you're hungry, feel free to hunt anyway."

"Nah, I was asking for your sake. I don't have to eat that often." Alfred replied. He moved so he was in a loose ball again, with a space for Arthur right by his heart. "Eat up and then crawl in." he told the knight.

Arthur did as he was told, relishing the meal as he scoffed it down, before slipping in with Alfred.

Alfred curled more around him when he was in place, moving his head to rest right next to Arthur and sliding his wing to cover most of the entrance to the ball and block out the light. In the darkness his tongue flicked out to lick the closest part of Arthur he could reach- which incidentally was his butt, though Alfred had no way of knowing. "G'night, Artie."

Arthur let out a _completely masculine_ indignant yelp, jumping ever so slightly. "Alfred!"

Alfred started. "W-What?! What is it, what's wrong?!"

"Wha- y-you would know!" Arthur sputtered in his shock, embarrassment keeping him from wanting to phrase it.

"Know what?" Alfred tilted his head a bit in confusion. "I just licked you... Here, I'll do it again. Warning, licking!" And he licked the spot lightly again.

"Alfred, stop it!" Arthur hissed in response. "Are you really unaware of it?"

"Unaware of what?"

"Tch... Nevermind, just stop doing that."

"B-But why?" Alfred nuzzled to the spot, and then froze. "...Oh."

Arthur's eyes widened and he turned his head in Alfred's direction. "I asked you! Honestly, well that's why!"

Alfred immediately moved away. "I'm sorry, Arthur..." he said in a small voice. "I didn't know..."

"It's fine, it was an accident..." Arthur replied gruffly.

"Yeah... G'night, Artie..." Alfred closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Arthur felt a little bad as he listened to Alfred steadily falling asleep, but he soon joined him in slumber. The next morning he awoke with a start. Unsure what woke him, he tried to take in his surroundings, but there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary.

Alfred was softly mumbling in his sleep and twitching. "N-No... Ivan, leave her 'lone...n-no...just...just a lil girl... No!" His breathing got heavier and he whimpered a bit.

Arthur's eyes widened upon hearing the dragon's ramblings. "Alfred." he said, worried, as he dug his elbow into the creature to try and wake him. "Alfred, wake up!"

Alfred woke with what could only be described as a scream, and he immediately pulled Arthur closer to his chest. His nostrils flared out as he panted, and only after a few minutes did he calm down.

Terrified at this outburst and what it meant for Alfred, Arthur- after adjusting to the situation- attempted comforting strokes and soothing whispers. "Alfred...it's okay...it's okay, shh..."

Alfred took a long, shuddering breath, and then shook his head lightly. He set Arthur down on the ground and forced a smile. "I'm fine."

Arthur stared at the other for a minute before shaking his head as well. "No you're not." he replied, his voice soft.

"I am." Alfred kept the fixed smile in place. "Just a bad dream, n-nothing to worry about."

"That wasn't a 'bad dream', Alfred, that was terrifying!" Arthur retaliated, anxiety etched over his face. "Alfred, don't lie to me!"

_You weren't the one having to live through it..._ Alfred thought, slightly bitterly. _So don't tell me about terrifying._ He sighed though. "It's fine. It's over now isn't it?" he asked, his voice coming out slightly snappy.

Unsure of what to do for a moment, Arthur stared at him. Eventually, he set his jaw and squared himself up. "Fine." he said quietly, and then turned on his heel and walked away to sit on the edge of a rock facing out to the world.

Alfred felt bad, but he shook his head, forcing those emotions down. "We're moving on now." he said emotionlessly. He reached out and grabbed Arthur- less gently than usual- in his paw and then took off, flying steadily on to their final destination.

"Alfred!" Arthur cried angrily as he was picked up. Why did this dragon have to be such hard work? Arthur was just worried about him, but of course Alfred had to ignore that... His scream ran through Arthur's mind again and he almost shuddered. He should have been focusing on making Alfred feel better, not taking it personally... Still, Arthur would not apologize.

Alfred ignored him, flying steadily on. He did however tighten his grip on Arthur, so there was no chance of the knight falling or wriggling out of his grasp. He wanted to apologize, wanted to plead for Arthur's forgiveness if it meant talking and laughing normally with the knight, but his anger kept him going as he was. At least the argument had distracted him from the nightmare he had been having.

Arthur gave up with a sigh and just let himself be carried, as uncomfortable as this was. He watched the ground fly past, a nervous feeling flitting into his heart, but one that was easy enough to ignore. As long as they landed soon, Arthur would put up with this.

After flying for another hour, Alfred's resistance broke. He dove down and landed lightly, placing Arthur on the ground with the utmost care. "I-I'm sorry, Artie..." he murmured, posture bowed and head practically touching the ground. "I don't like it when you're mad at me, please don't be mad, I'm sorry."

Arthur looked back at Alfred, a sorry sigh escaping his lips. "Do you understand why I'm mad?"

"N-No..." Alfred shook his head ever so slightly.

"I'm mad because you won't tell me something's wrong." Arthur explained, attempting- and mostly failing- to keep a level voice. "And when I ask you about it, you just get angry!"

Alfred flinched back, resisting the urge to spew apologies again. "I-It's just... I don't wanna worry you. It's nothing you gotta think about, you know?" He did back away from Arthur, his chin dragging on the ground a bit.

Arthur frowned, moving towards the dragon, speaking more calmly now. "Alfred, I'm going to be worried either way. I'd much rather know what's going on and be able to offer some help, or at least some support. If you really don't want to tell me what's wrong, that's fine, but at least admit your feelings."

"All right, fine! I was terrified, okay? I dreamed of Ivan and some of the stuff he did and it was really scary and I was really glad when you woke me up but I just didn't wanna bother you with it but I'm really sorry, okay? Just...please don't be mad at me anymore?" Alfred stared up at him pleadingly.

Arthur's heart physically ached at the other's face. "Alfred...come here." he asked of the dragon gently.

"Y-Yeah?" Alfred crept forward slowly.

Rolling his eyes at the tentative speed, Arthur reached out his hands and took Alfred's face, bringing him close and gently stroking the dragon's smooth scales. "You really are an idiot." he murmured.

"Yeah, well you're scary sometimes." Alfred shot back quietly, the hesitation flowing right out of him as he relaxed into Arthur's touch.

"Glad to see you recognize that." the knight replied, a small smirk forming on his face for a moment, before being replaced by a look of slight worry. "I don't...scare you, do I?"

Alfred nuzzled to him. "A lil bit when you yell at me, but then again everyone does now so it's not a big deal. Don't worry about that."

Arthur moved closer, moving a hand to tickle under the other's chin. "Ah, okay, if you're sure." he answered. "...I don't mean to yell..."

Alfred giggled a bit and shook his head at the tickling. "I know, Artie. But I don't think I'm the easiest person to get along with, so I kind of get if you wanna sometimes..." he said, though he was smiling and his gaze was warm.

Arthur grinned wickedly at the reactions he gained, tickling Alfred even further. "Well, I get irritated far too easily anyway."

"Ah- ahah- n-no Artie please!" Alfred shuddered with laugher, having to try really hard not to collapse and start rolling around all over the place so he wouldn't hurt Arthur. "I-heh- guess we bala- hahahaha- balance each other out, eh?" he managed to get out before dissolving into further laughter.

"If I'm honest, I'm more interested in how you appear to be extremely ticklish." Arthur admitted with an evil glint in his eye, not stopping the tickling.

"N-Nono hahah- st- stoppit Artie!" Alfred squeezed his eyes shut, tears of mirth slipping down his cheeks.

"Oh, but why would I stop something so amusing?"

"It- it ain't ahahah- amusing for meeeeee-"

"Well it certainly seems to be, what with all the laughter." Arthur chuckled.

"It- it's not _voluntary_!" Alfred complained, managing to stop laughing for a bit. Then, he remembered that he was a dragon and therefore strong. So he pulled his head quickly, but carefully so not to hurt the knight, away from Arthur's hands and high up into the air. He took a deep breath. "There..."

Arthur stood, hands behind his back as he fought to keep the grin off his face, which was proving to be rather difficult.

Alfred grinned triumphantly. "Hah!"

Unable to stop himself, Arthur burst into peals of laughter at Alfred's reactions. "Well, now I know for the future!"

Alfred pouted for a while, but then broke into a grin upon Arthur's laughter. "What about you?" he asked, and then suddenly leaned forward. His tongue snaked up underneath Arthur's shirt to brush against his belly and sides.

Arthur's eyes widened and he stifled another outburst of laughter ad the feeling, biting his lip in an attempt to hold it in. "I-I don't know what you're- talking about..." he answered through his teeth.

Alfred's mouth turned up wickedly at the corners and he started licking him more thoroughly. His tongue looped down to ever so gently brush against his hips before sweeping across his ribs.

"N-No, don't-" The words burst out of Arthur's mouth before he could stop them, his face red from holding himself in so much.

Alfred chuckled. He took Arthur in his paw and laid the knight on the ground, his tongue working expertly to take off his shirt. When that was done he looked upon Arthur's bare chest for a moment before resuming his tickling.

"Ah-ah- N- Alfred-!" Arthur cried, squirming slightly as he tried- and failed miserably- to contain his laughter. Alfred licked him for a moment more and then simply rested his chin on Arthur's stomach. "You liked that, mm?"

"N-Not really..." the knight replied, trying to catch his breath back as he frowned, looking away in embarrassment of his actions.

"C'mon Artie, just admit it!" Alfred prodded, his tongue flicking out to brush against Arthur's neck.

"Ngh... I-It was ridiculous..." Arthur answered, jumping slightly at the feeling on his neck.

"You liked it~!" Alfred sang, looking down at him lovingly.

Arthur gave Alfred his best glare for a moment, then turned his head away again. "...Shut up." he mumbled.

Alfred nuzzled to him. "I knew it!" he crowed.

"I never admitted to anything." Arthur muttered in response. "Your face did!"

Alfred snuffled into his chest and then gave the knight his puppy eyes. "C'mon, Artie! It wasn't bad, w-was it?" he asked softly, to double the effect.

Arthur stared into Alfred's big, blue eyes and his resolve crumbled. "It...it wasn't exactly bad." he grumbled.

"B-But?" Alfred asked, his eyes widening and saddening even more. "You didn't like it either, did you..."

Ugh, this bloody dragon knew how to get his way. Why did he have to look so damn cu- "...It's not that I didn't like it." Arthur dodged, avoiding the issue.

Alfred brightened a tiny bit. "T-Then you did like it?" he asked, hope very prominent in his voice.

Arthur frowned at the other, unsure whether to be irritated or embarrassed, and gave in. "I guess."

Immediately Alfred brightened up more. "I knew it!" He lifted his head and moved back, allowing Arthur to get up. He was grinning broadly and couldn't resist flying up and doing a loop in the air out of glee.

"Oh...shut it, you prat. " Arthur replied as he stood, though there was a shadow of a smile on his face.

Alfred landed, grinning, and sniffed again at Arthur's bare chest. Then, he suddenly grabbed the knight's shirt and retreated into the air again, laughing.

Arthur blinked, wondering what Alfred was doing, before it all became clear. He was taken aback, everything happened so quickly, and all of a sudden his shirt was in the air rather than on the ground next to him. "H-Hey, Alfred! Honestly, give me my shirt!" he reprimanded, still surprised.

"Nope!" Alfred called down to him. "That's what ya get for callin' me a prat!" He gripped the shirt tighter in his paw and beat his wings, climbing a bit higher into the air.

"Ah-" Arthur stopped in his tracks to let out a sigh and frowned up at the dragon. "Come on, I have no chance of chasing after you!"

Alfred looked up at the sky, noticing the sun's position, and sighed as well, supposing it was high time they moved again. He dropped the shirt onto Arthur's head and then landed a few feet away. "You're no fun." he said, pouting again.

"Well I wouldn't have been able to chase you, anyway. I'd have thought that would be more boring." the knight huffed as he redressed.

"What?" Alfred tilted his head to the side. "Whatever. Hurry up and hop on, old man." He crouched.

"Old man?!" Arthur said indignantly as he climbed onto the dragon. "As far as I remember, you've had far more years on this Earth than I!"

"Hush I'm nineteen!" Alfred immediately countered. "Remember? And you're twenty-three, plus you act like an old man so there."

"I do _not_ act like an old man!" Arthur exclaimed. "And besides, you're nineteen _plus_ about twenty-five which would make you about forty-four in mind." he finished off with a smirk.

"Nope I'm still nineteen shush." Alfred beat his wings twice and they were off.

Arthur allowed himself a triumphant chuckle as they headed off. "Oh, sure."

"I am!" Alfred whined. "Look, I'm still fun. Hang on!" And he proceeded to do another quick loop.

Tensing, Arthur gripped tightly to Alfred, his head reeling. Not that he was absolutely terrified or anything. "Christ, Alfred!"

Alfred turned his head back to look at him. "Admit I'm fun!"

"That was not fun, Alfred, that was...absolutely terrifying!" Arthur said back, teeth gritted.

"W-Were you really that scared?" Alfred's amusement quickly faded, replaced by concern.

Arthur suddenly felt a wave of awkwardness; he could hardly admit his fear. "It's not as it if was fear or anything. It just seems common sense to feel some unease when flying upside down hundreds of feet above the ground." _Well avoided, Arthur. _

Alfred just swung his head back around to face forward and increased his speed.

Arthur did not dare loosen his grip on Alfred, his mind edging on the side of caution instead. "So, do you think we can make it by the end of today?"

"Yeah." Alfred replied, his tone neutral. "It's just over that mountain range, so start looking around for a spot where we can spend the next few days to gather strength."

"All right." Arthur replied. As they got closer to their destination, Arthur spotted what looked like a small cave on the slope of a mountain, and he pointed it out to Alfred.

The dragon nodded and angled towards it, swooping gracefully inside. "Yeah, this should be fine." He glanced in the direction of Ivan's dwelling and shuddered before crouching down.

The shudder did not go unnoticed by Arthur, and as he slid off he gave Alfred a quick pat. "So we'll lie low for a few days here?"

Alfred nodded, and he moved closer to Arthur for comfort. "Whatever happens when we face him, promise me that you'll trust me?" he asked softly, blue eyes boring into Arthur's face.

"Of course. We've come too far for me to not trust you." Arthur replied quietly.

Alfred gave him a half smile and stretched out. "You want me to hunt?"

Though Arthur was feeling a little peckish, he didn't want to make the dragon go to any lengths. "Don't worry about it, I'll go. You rest a little after that flight." he said with a small smile.

"And what, you'll hunt?" Alfred asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Good luck getting down to the forest."

"Surely there's something up here? There'll be some roots. Though if you'd rather meat, you could always take me down to hunt." the knight replied. He hadn't been hunting in a while, actually.

"But Artie, I thought you wanted me to rest?" Alfred asked innocently, and then nuzzled to him. "But nah, I'll go hunt!" And with that, he threw himself off the ledge, his wings snapping out to catch the wind.

Arthur watched Alfred leave until he could no longer see him. "I did, you idiot..." he muttered to himself, before heading to the back. He spent his time setting up some sort of makeshift living space; piling some wood for a fire and laying out a small- probably useless, now that he thought about it- blanket on the floor; setting out all his items: a couple of daggers, some spare clothes, what was left of first aid, a small amount of fruit, an almost empty satchel of water, and a bow and quiver Arthur had picked up at the castle.

Alfred soared along the peaks of the trees, sniffing around for traces of deer or any other sort of game animal. After a moment he found a fairly recent trail, and he followed it for a bit. But then another scent entered his nose- the scent of blood. He immediately became wary and slowed his flight. The clouds hung low once more so he dove into one for cover and within it, he approached even closer.

He came across a clearing, the deer carcass in the middle of it. And, standing over the animal and holding a bloody knife, was Ivan. His silver hair shone in the moonlight, and both his long tan cloak and light purple scarf were splattered with the deer's blood. Alfred froze for a second, and started trembling.

Ivan finished slitting the deer's throat and then glanced up, his purple eyes seeming to stare right into Alfred's for a moment. Then the witch looked off to the side, and finally back down to the deer, which he proceeded to sling over his shoulder and start carrying off in the direction of his home.

When he was sure it was safe to move, Alfred twisted in mid-air and raced back to the cave, landing in the middle of it in a trembling heap. His eyes were shut and his whole body shook with tremors.

* * *

**A/N**: Ivan's first official appearance.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N**: A bit more of their stories~

* * *

Arthur glanced up at the sudden presence, eyes growing wide with fear when he saw the state of the dragon. "Alfred?!" he let out as he surged across the cave to where his friend was on the floor. His green eyes searched the other's body, hands gently stroking his back as he talked to the dragon, his voice coming out quickly in harsh worry. "Alfred, what's wrong? Are you hurt? What on Earth has happened?"

"I-Ivan-" Alfred gasped out, his trembles lessening slightly the moment he felt Arthur's hands against his scales but not stopping completely. "I saw him- not too far- He's gone now but _oh god_ Artie..."

Arthur's face winced slightly in comprehension, not able to even imagine how terrifying it must have been for Alfred. "Oh Christ. Did he do anything to you?" he asked as he gently stroked Alfred's back, moving one hand to his muzzle as the knight whispered to him closely. "It's okay, you're here now. You're safe from him."

"H-He killed a deer- I was up in a c-cloud... He looked up, but I'm not sure if he saw me. A-Artie-" Alfred squeezed his eyes shut tightly and leaned into him as much as possible.

Repositioning, Arthur moved his arms to hold Alfred as best he could in some sort of hug. "It's okay, Alfred, I'm here..." he whispered to the other, his eyes growing angry and more determined than they had ever been before. _I will kill this bastard with my bare hands if I have to._ Arthur held him a little bit tighter.

Alfred sniffled a bit. "I-I thought by now I wouldn't be as scared of him...I thought I was stronger and stuff..." he said softly, whimpering into Arthur's chest.

"It's okay." Arthur replied softly, snapped back into reality by Alfred's current plight. "He...did some terrible things. It's only natural to be scared."

"You don't know the worst of it." Alfred whispered. But Arthur's mere presence was comforting, and in another few moments the dragon's trembling ceased entirely.

Arthur continued to comfort him, wishing he could do something to make it all end, or make it so Alfred was never cursed to this- _But then I would never have met him..._ Arthur quickly banished the thought from his mind, reprimanding himself for being so selfish. "Do you...want me to know?" he asked, wanting to find out if he could help in any small ways, but not wanting to push Alfred.

"J-Just lots of pain and mind games..." Alfred murmured, nuzzling to his cheek for more comfort.

Stroking Alfred's head, Arthur held him closer. "I'm sorry..." he murmured.

"Don't be." Alfred attempted to smile. "You didn't do it, after all."

"You should not have gone through it. Any of it. And I should have been there."

"Artie, you weren't even born when most of it happened." Alfred nudged him, and then shrugged. "I went through it cuz of my own stupid heart."

"Well I could have at least been with you just now." Arthur grumbled. "But I can at least ensure you will never go through it again." He looked into Alfred's eyes, a fierce determination there to protect Alfred, help Alfred, save Alfred.

The dragon stared back, and he felt humbled by all the emotion he saw there. His head bowed under the intensity. "I dunno what I did to deserve the honour of knowing you, Arthur..." he whispered.

Arthur frowned and gently lifted Alfred's head. "By being you."

Alfred's eyes filled with raw emotion that soon spilled over. The large tears dripped down his cheeks and he lowered his head, nudging his chest. "Nah. I'm just a lowly peasant with a curse on him, nothing special."

"And I'm just a servant who even fails to serve his king." Arthur gave a small smile. "It seems we're evenly matched."

"You didn't fail to serve him." Alfred muttered, sniffling a bit as more tears flowed down his cheeks. "It's not over yet."

Arthur chuckled lightly, trying to wipe away a few of Alfred's tears as he spoke softly. "I have. A number of times. This is just the cherry on to top of the cake."

"No shush you're awesome." Alfred muttered, nuzzling to him fiercely. "Can- Can we go to sleep now? I'm not that hungry anymore..."

"That's fine, Alfred. I can get the food tomorrow." the knight said soothingly.

Alfred nodded and then flicked his tongue out to lick Arthur in a good night kiss, making sure that it landed on his cheek this time. "G'night Artie..." he murmured, then fell asleep.

"Good night."

Arthur took a while to wake the next morning, continuously drifting back off to sleep, he was so comfortable. After a few attempts, however, he managed to stay awake. "Alfred?" he asked quietly, to check if the other was awake.

Snuffling, Alfred blinked and then moaned. "Whaaa...?"

Arthur held in a chuckle. "Good morning."

"S'not. Go back to sleep." Alfred muttered.

"I think you'll find it is." the knight said with a smirk.

"Nnnnno." Alfred shushed him. "Sleep."

"Alfred, come now. You can't stay asleep forever."

"Yeah I can." Alfred said stubbornly.

"Well you shouldn't." Arthur reprimanded. "Anyway, I'm going to go and find some food, so unless you fancy roots, I'm going to need you to shift your arse a little."

Alfred tightened his grip on the knight. "You ain't going anywhere."

Arthur groaned at this. "Alfred, really..."

"Yeah. Really." Alfred shifted around until he was comfortable and closed his eyes smugly, letting out a long, content sigh.

"Alfred..." the knight mumbled, half-assed. He wouldn't mind staying for a little longer if Alfred _really_ insisted, but he probably should get some food.

Alfred suddenly whimpered and licked Arthur's face lightly. "Ivan might be out there somewhere..." he murmured, his voice a bit hoarse. He knew it wasn't likely, but then again Ivan had seemingly looked straight at him the night before. If there was any chance he knew they were there...

Arthur sighed, a worried look passing over his face. "So what do you want to do about that? We can't starve."

The dragon let out a long breath and reluctantly uncurled, releasing him. "I don't know...I could go with you, of you want?" he offered.

"Will you be okay with that?" Arthur asked softly. He didn't want Alfred to have any cause to be scared, nor for him to have to go through any unnecessary effort.

"I don't want him to hurt you." Alfred said, nodding vigorously. He leaned down and nudged Arthur's cheek with his nose. "I'll be fine, these are hardly bothering me anyway." He rolled his shoulders. "But could you change the bandages when we get back?"

"Well, if you insist." Arthur headed to the mouth of the cave, rubbing his back slightly as he was reminded of his own injuries. "I will if we've enough. Although it might be a good idea to stop off at a river and clean your bandages there."

"Then don't worry about it." Alfred said quickly, going to stand next to him. "I really don't need them. I'm a dragon, so I heal quickly. Save them for yourself." he said, and then crouched down.

Arthur climbed onto the dragon's back. "All right. Still, we'll take them off when we get back, probably better not to have dirty bandages."

"Sure." Alfred didn't even wince as Arthur settled down. He grinned, taking it as a sign that he was healing nicely and quickly. He took off from the ledge, claws scraping narrow grooves into the dirt and rock. He circled for a bit, eyes sharply on the look out for any sign of Ivan, and when he was satisfied there was none he wheeled and took off in the direction away from the witch's dwelling. The farther they were, the better. After a few short minutes he picked up the scent of a herd of deer, and he landed.

"Go get 'em." he said softly to Arthur as he bent his forelegs.

Landing softly as he jumped off, Arthur headed quietly towards the deer. As he approached, he gently nocked his bow, aiming it towards the closest as he inched forward. He aimed directly for the throat, to minimize the pain for the poor creature and to save as much of the meat as possible. He drew back the string and, as if in slow motion, watched with wide eyes as it soared past the nearest buck. In a flash, the deer started to scatter.

_Shit_. he thought, drawing his sword and dropping the bow. _I got too cocky._ Sure the last time hadn't gone that well for him either, but he assumed he'd learned from his mistake. He delved deeper into the forest, blindly chasing after some deer who'd headed in that direction. A few seconds in, he spotted a smudge of blood on some leaves. Had his arrow wounded one after all? With the amount of blood there, Arthur guessed it could not have gone far, and continued on to follow the trail. After a few minutes of walking, he heard its pitiful cries off to the right. He sorrowfully lowered his sword and walked up to the young doe. The head of his arrow wad buried deep in her hind leg. As soon as the deer became aware of his presence, she stood and made an attempt to get away, but it was futile- the knight had soon caught her around the neck, holding her there so she wouldn't escape.

"Shh, shh..." Arthur whispered to her soothingly. "I'm sorry." And he put the poor thing out of her misery. He stood then and looked around. "Ah." He was...ever so slightly lost. "Alfred?"

Alfred had been following him from the air, keeping an eye on their surroundings for danger. He rolled his eyes when Arthur missed- did he honestly think he'd get better with no practice? He chased some of the deer and killed three; two of which he ate right away, and the third was held in his paw as he searched for Arthur again. He found the knight after a few minutes, leaning over the carcass of a deer.

"Wow." he commented, landing. "So you managed to kill one after all. Congratulations." he said, smirking.

Arthur jumped slightly at the voice, frowning as he turned to look at Alfred. "No need to sound so surprised. I _can_ hunt, you know."

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, really? Might not wanna use that too often. Might increase your chances." he snickered, nodding at the bow. He then tossed the deer carcass he had in his paw to rest near the one Arthur killed.

"Hey! I'm perfectly adequate with a bow! I'm simply a little rusty. Besides, I would have no chance running into a pack of deer with a sword, they'd scatter immediately." Arthur looked down at the two on the floor. "That should be fine for a couple of days. Shall I have a forage for some fruit too?"

"Mhm, sure." Alfred said disbelievingly. "If you want fruit, then sure. I don't need it." He sniffed at Arthur and licked some of the deer's blood from his body.

"May I remind you I have killed treasoners? Animals are no big deal by comparison." Arthur replied indignantly, looking down at himself when licked. "Well, let's head towards the nearest water. There's bound to be some healthy food there, and I can perhaps wash some of this blood out of my clothes, if it's not inconvenient?"

"People are slower than deer." Alfred retorted, and continued his licking. "Why bother with water? I can clean you well enough." And with that he knocked Arthur lightly to the ground and pinned him, giving him a thorough licking everywhere there was blood.

"Agh-" Arthur glared at the dragon, not too pleased with being pinned to the ground. "And what about my clothes? You can't clean _everywhere_..."

Alfred groaned. "You're such a spoilsport." he muttered, releasing him. "Come on then, off to the river, Mr. High-And-Mighty Knight." He took Arthur into one paw and the two deer carcasses into the other and took off, searching for the nearest river.

"I'm not spoiling anything..." Arthur muttered under his breath, feeling a little undignified just hanging there as he was carried.

"Yeah you are!" Alfred hung his head to look at him briefly. Then, straightening, he spotted a stream and headed for it, landing on his hind legs and placing his cargo down before dropping down onto all fours, Arthur and the deer right between his forelegs.

Arthur stood and brushed himself off, looking along the stream with a thoughtful frown on his face. "All right, I'm going to clean my clothes a little. Shall we cook some of the deer now, or would you rather I do it back at the mountain?" he asked.

"Back at the mountain. Who knows what the scent might attract." Alfred settled down and prepared himself for the wondrous sight of a shirtless Arthur.

"That seems sensible." Arthur agreed, nodding. He turned to the stream and took his bloody top off, dunking it in the stream to wash it. He looked down at his trousers, checking the amount of blood on them, and then when the water from the shirt ran clear, used it to wash off the remaining blood on his torso.

Alfred couldn't help licking his lips, watching the muscles rippling beneath Arthur's skin. The knight was smaller than he would have been as a human, but that didn't mean he was any less well-built. His blue eyes were trained firmly on Arthur's body, while his ears swiveled around, listening for any approaching creatures.

Arthur finished off wiping the majority of the blood off his neck before rinsing the shirt and wringing it out. He then walked back to where Alfred was, folding his shirt and placing it next to the dragon. "I'm going to look for some berries or something, all right? Wait here."

Alfred had averted his eyes the moment Arthur was facing him. "Sure. Yell out if you need anything, okay? Anything at all."

"All right. If I'm not back in about fifteen minutes, come find me" He headed away through the trees, searching near the stream for some edible roots or berries. He found plenty of poisonous ones, but finding some he could eat proved more difficult.

Alfred nodded and then rested his chin on his crossed forelegs. His tail flicked back and forth lazily as he watched Arthur until the knight was out of sight. Then he strained his ears, listening intently for any noises, from Arthur or from anything else.

Eventually, Arthur came across a small bush of blackberries a little bit away from the river and he collected as many as he could. Holding them closely against his stomach, he started heading back in the direction he thought he had come from, trying to find his way back.

Fifteen minutes passed, and Alfred lifted up his head. "Artie?" he called to the surrounding area.

_I'm sure I came through this way..._ Arthur thought as he wandered through the forest. He stood for a moment, frowning as he looked around. Thinking he heard Alfred's voice, he tried to find the source.

Alfred groaned when he received no reply and he took off, searching for the human. After a while he spotted him, of course going in the opposite direction he needed to. "Hey Artie, up here!" he called, grinning down at him.

Arthur looked up, raising an eyebrow at the dragon. "Really now, you shouldn't be so impatient. I was on my way back." he called back up.

"Yeah, in the wrong direction." Alfred snorted, and then landed next to him. "Honestly, your sense of direction is almost as bad as your archery skills." he murmured, nuzzling to him. "Good thing you have me!"

The knight frowned, watching Alfred as he landed. "As I said, they're just rusty..." he mumbled back.

"Rusty, sure." Alfred gave his cheek a gentle lick. "Wanna head back now?"

Pouting slightly, Arthur gave the other an evil glance, and then slighted. "All right. I have some berries, anyway."

Alfred grinned and picked him up, loving the way Arthur's skin felt against the pads of his paw. "Good. Leggo!"

As they flew, Arthur kept a tight hold on the berries in his arms so only a few fell down. After a few minutes they arrived back at the side of the stream to find a deer missing, and... "Hey! What happened to my shirt?"

Alfred let out a few snickers. "I-I dunno. Guess you'll have to go without it." he said, voice neutral to disguise his glee. He mourned the loss of the deer a bit, but then again he had already eaten and Arthur didn't eat that much so it wasn't the end of the world or anything.

Arthur shot a glare at him. "It's not funny!" he said, looking back at where his shirt once was. "And they took my deer, too!" That much was true, the deer left behind was Alfred's catch, not Arthur's well-earned one. This left him in a huff.

Still chuckling, Alfred licked him. "It is, a bit." His expression quickly went serious though. "It's all right though, Artie. You caught it, and that's what matters, yeah? I'm proud of you." he said, nudging him gently.

Arthur opened his mouth to speak before closing it again and frowning at the ground, cheeks tinged a little red at the dragon's words. "I don't care that much about the bleeding deer..." the knight muttered.

"...We could try to find a nearby town or house, and maybe you could get a new shirt there?" Alfred _would_ mourn the end of Arthur's shirtless state, but if it made him happy...

"With you looking like that?" Arthur quirked his eyebrows questioningly at the dragon. "If there is a nearby town in sight, then we may as well stop there, but we shouldn't go out of our way. I wouldn't want to be sighted now." And besides, he still had some armour for fighting. He just wished he'd thought to bring a spare set of clothes from the palace.

Alfred scuffed the ground. "Well, I mean you'd be more comfy like that, right? And I'd fly you close to the town, but they wouldn't see me..." he mumbled.

Arthur sighed and smiled up at the dragon, thankful for his consideration. "I suppose I would...but I don't really want to lengthen this mission out any more than it needs too."

"All right..." Alfred nudged him. "We can go finish this with Ivan tomorrow, then. I want to get this over with as well." he declared. "Hop on, then?" He crouched.

"Okay." Arthur said with a smile, climbing onto Alfred's back once more.

Alfred snorted with agreement and then picked up the deer carcass, flying swiftly back to their cave. He landed easily on the ledge, gouging into the rock again, and stepped into the cave. The rest of their stuff was untouched, like expected, and he tossed the deer into the corner. He opened his mouth and spat out some flame to get a fire going, and then lay down carefully so Arthur could get off.

Arthur dismounted slowly, keeping his arms as steady as possible to avoid losing any more of the blackberries, and then depositing them in a pile to the side. He then got out a small knife from his pack and cut some of the deer meet off, skinning and spearing it onto the blade. He'd cook all of the meat first, to keep it from festering too much, before eating. "Will you be wanting any, or have you eaten?" he asked.

"Actually, I caught two other deer and ate those, so I'm good." Alfred told him with a lazy grin. "So this is all for you."

"All right." Arthur replied with a smile as he roasted the meat, tossing each done piece onto a pile on the floor. Once he had finished cooking most of the deer, he began to eat the parts he roasted. At one point he glanced over at the pile of blackberries, frowning as he thought. Slowly he got up, picked up a handful of the large berries, and took them back up to the deer. He placed one blackberry on a corner of the meat and ate it, a look of pleasant surprise on his face at the- supposedly nice- taste. "Alfred, try this!" he said, holding some out to the dragon, clearly pleased with his results.

Alfred's tongue wrapped around Arthur's hand as he took the proffered food, and his eyes widened a bit. The muscles of his throat moved up and down rapidly, and his eyes watered slightly. Eventually he swallowed. "It's...err...interesting..." he muttered, lowering his head. His tongue dropped listlessly from his mouth.

"Didn't you like it?" Arthur asked, furrowing his brows at the dragon. "Hmph. You have no taste."

_And you seem to have no taste buds, Artie..._ "I'm a dragon." Alfred muttered. "Don't like fruits now." He moved to a corner and curled up. "Tell me about your past."

"Fine, I'll eat it myself. You know, just because you're a dragon, that's no excuse for bad eating habits." Arthur lectured. He raised an eyebrow at Alfred's next request. "My past? Well...I suppose. What part of it do you want to hear?"

"Dude. I'm a carnivore." Alfred nudged him. "I dunno. Tell me everything. Your childhood, how you became a knight, some adventures. I'll tell you mine too if you want, but I doubt it'll be as interesting..."

Arthur smiled lightly. "Well, my childhood wasn't all that interesting either. I told you about part growing up with all the rumors surrounding Ivan, and my father going out to find out about him. And...well I was pretty much born into the knight profession. Although I suppose I was young for a knight. I had 'potential', apparently. That didn't last too long." Arthur looked at his hands while speaking, clearly skirting around the edges of his story. He didn't much talk about his past, nor the issues surrounding it, partially because he didn't want to sound like he was whining about it, but also because he simply didn't know how.

Alfred frowned a bit, sensing he wasn't getting the whole story. Was it painful for Arthur to talk about it, or did he just not trust Alfred enough? The second thought hurt. They had been travelling together for almost a week now... His eyes dimmed a bit, losing some of their intensity and brightness. "Oh..."

An uncomfortably silence settled between the two as Arthur began to think about the past, before he pulled himself out of his thoughts. "Ah, I'm not very good at talking about this... I'm never sure where to begin." he said with a small chuckle. "What about you?"

"It's all right..." Alfred said softly. "Me? Well I was born to one of the poorer families. Peasant, you know? There was me, my mom, my dad- for a while, at least-, and my twin brother Matthew- Mattie for short. My dad and mom didn't really get along that well and started arguing a lot, so he left when me an' Mattie were super young. So Mattie and I had to help mom around and do stuff, which was good cuz we got real strong through it, and we managed well enough." Here, Alfred paused for a bit. "When I was seventeen...Ivan passed by. I-I couldn't- couldn't help it-" His breathing got heavier. "H-He- He pretended to be so nice and mysterious, the stranger from far off lands. He showed me some of the stuff he could do and I-I guess I was drawn to his power... He offered to teach me some stuff so I went off with him, just leaving my mom and Mattie... I think they must hate me now..." His eyes filled with tears. "M-Mattie..." He couldn't go on, his breathing ragged. He blinked rapidly to try and get rid of the tears. "M'sorry Mattie... M'so sorry..." he whispered, closing his eyes.

Arthur had looked up, listening intently to Alfred's story and feeling every pang of sympathy. As the dragon neared the end of his story, Arthur could see the pain in his eyes, and he slowly walked over and lifted a hand to the other's cheek, wanting to say something, anything to make him feel better.

"I killed someone once." the knight blurted out. He had no idea how this would help, but Alfred has just bared his soul to him. "I mean, you know that already, but this was different to all the other times, he had done nothing wrong, it wasn't for the king, I just..." Arthur took a deep breath and continued, forcing the words to come out in something that made sense, his voice steadily growing quieter. "That day...my father, the number one knight at the time, went out to investigate rumors about a witch. I...I still don't know what happened to him. And then, somebody...mentioned the name, Ivan, a few months later and something happened, and I was too naïve, they made me a knight while I was still young and...I didn't even use a sword." he finished with a distant whisper. He shook himself back into reality- he had gone way too far and there was no way saying that would have cheered Alfred up. The knight pushed a small smile onto his face. "Your family doesn't hate you, Alfred. Bloody irritated at you just leaving like that, as I would be, but they don't hate you." Arthur turned away to distract himself, packing away the rest of the berries. "But hey, you must have done some wild stuff with Mattie when you were young, hm? Tell me about it."

Alfred calmed a bit at Arthur's voice, and then he shed some more tears, this time for the knight. "I'm sorry, Artie..." he whispered. "I-I'll tell you the crazy stuff in a bit, just give me a moment?" he asked, sniffing a bit. He also wanted to asked Arthur for a hug, but he'd vied so much affection from him already... He was honestly surprised the knight hadn't snapped already.

Arthur turned to look at the dragon, hearing the sorrow in his voice. "Oh, Alfred..." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I truly am. I-If I can help at all, I will."

Blinking, Alfred shuffled just a bit closer to him, hoping that action got across the message he was trying to convey; he still didn't want to actually physically ask Arthur for a hug.

Arthur watched Alfred for a moment, giving the other a small smile as he moved closer once more, stroking Alfred's cheek as he looked into the depths of blue. Then, he wrapped an arm around the other's neck, pulling himself closer into a hug to exercise out both of their emotional pain.

Alfred whimpered into him, a paw reaching up to wrap around Arthur's back, supporting him and pressing him even closer. It was the closest to hugging back he could do at the moment. "I'm glad all the other people who came to see me were jerks." he murmured to him. "I'm glad I got to meet you, Artie..." His voice came out a bit hoarse, and he nuzzled as best he could to him.

The blond held the dragon tighter in an attempt to convey all he could. "I'm glad too, Alfred." he murmured back. And he really was- glad that he had found him in the first place, glad that Alfred had been injured so Arthur couldn't kill him right on the spot, and glad Alfred had brought him on this adventure, because Arthur did not know where he'd be right now if he hadn't met Alfred. "I really am."

Alfred held him like that for another few minutes, and then he slowly calmed down. "All right." he said brightly, though his voice still shook a bit. He lowered his paw to allow Arthur to step away if he wished. "So, crazy stuff me and Mattie did. Well, it was mostly me and then Mattie taking the blame." He chuckled a bit. "I was a really excitable kid. We'd go off on adventures into the forest and not make it back until evening and then mom would yell and I'd tell her Mattie wanted to go and I dunno if she believed me or not but she'd just send us off to bed with no food." Alfred's eyes unfocused as he revisited memories. "I'd pick fights with the older kids over all sorts of stuff- mostly cuz they were being mean to other kids or small animals. I'd get beat up real bad and Mattie would help clean me up- he was good at that- before mom saw. When I got older I grew rebellious- I'd sneak into the tavern for drinks. The owner's son, Gilbert, oh man Gilbert. He was an albino, and completely nuts. Anyway, he'd give me drinks and we'd go out back and just drink and talk about crazy adventures we thought about going on when we were older, and later he taught me to fight so I went back and beat up the guys who used to beat me up." Alfred grunted at this. "Not the best thing to do, looking back at it now, but I was big and strong and hotheaded and I thought it was justice." He became thoughtful. "I think Mattie liked Gilbert. Gil was the kind of guy that was real outgoing and talked to everyone and overused the word awesome. He may have liked Mattie back, I dunno, but it'd be cool if they ended up together; they'd balance each other out..." He trailed off, smiling a bit more easily now.

Arthur listened intently, staying close to Alfred, and he smiled at Alfred's childhood memories and the wistfulness of his voice. At the mention of Gilbert's name, however, cogs began to turn in his head. "Gilbert...?" he muttered softly, looking up at Alfred with furrowed brows.

"Yeah." Alfred blinked and looked down. "Beilschmidt was his last name or something. He was real intense and stuff. Worked out a lot and was a real good fighter. Silvery hair, red eyes, typical albino, like I said."

Arthur broke into an incredulous grin. "Old Gilbert? You knew him? He helps mentor new recruits back in the city!"

Alfred's eyes widened. "Y-You know Gilbert?" he squeaked.

"Yeah! He helped train me up when I started. My goodness, he was one irritating sod." Arthur chuckled.

Alfred laughed. "That's Gil. Did...did he have a partner?" he asked, voice suddenly soft and serious.

"I'm not entirely sure..." Arthur narrowed his eyes in thought. "Sometimes another man would be there, I assume for Gi- Oh!" he exclaimed in realization. "...Dark blond hair, violet eyes?"

Alfred let out a low whine. "Yeah! And this long looping curl over his face?"

"Yes! Was that...?"

"Mattie..." Alfred whispered, his eyes shining with happiness. "Yeah." He swallowed. "Was he doing okay?"

Arthur smiled gently at him. "He seemed to be. He looked happy." he replied soothingly.

"That's- that's good." Alfred said, letting out a low sigh. "I-I wanna talk with him again sometime...apologize, y'know? But I dunno. He might freak if he sees I haven't changed any..."

"He's your brother." Arthur said with a reassuring smile. "That won't matter, you just have to explain."

"I hope so..." Alfred murmured, and then nuzzled to him. "So yeah, that's most of my story."

Arthur chuckled lightly and petted Alfred's muzzle. "It's wonderful."

Alfred looked at him. "Really? S'just my life. Nothin' special..."

"Yes, but it's the life of a wonderful person." Arthur's smile grew as he looked back at Alfred.

Alfred's heart seemed to jump again, and his eyes filled with love for the human before him. "You... You think I'm wonderful?"

"In every way."

Alfred's breath left him in a rattle. "I love you, Artie..." It slipped out along with the air.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: The calm before the storm.

* * *

Arthur froze in place at the words, his heart thumping against his ribcage at an alarming rate. He stood, unsure how to react, mind working to catch up with his heart. "I know." he whispered, immediately regretting his words.

The happiness almost instantly vanished from Alfred's face when he saw the knight's reaction. He hadn't regretted the words right after he'd said them, but now... "Yeah." But he went forward with it anyway. He didn't regret his feelings, anyhow, even if they did strain their relationship. He looked away.

Looking up at Alfred, Arthur felt a horrendous pang. Strengthening his resolve, he walked up to the dragon. "Alfred..." he said shakily, taking the other's head in his hands and bringing their faces close, looking into Alfred's eyes. "You...are...a different species right now." His voice was slow and deliberate, and he worked to make his feelings understood for once, as awkward as he felt saying this. He shook his head slightly. "There's only a couple more days until this is sorted out all right? Soon enough, you'll be human again, and we..." Arthur sighed as he trailed off, looking away himself.

Slowly, oh so slowly, Alfred's eyes filled with hope. "Really? I-I'd have a chance then?" he asked lowly.

Arthur looked back to Alfred, pausing for a moment. Leaning up, he then gave an oh-so-very-soft kiss to the dragon's forehead, before giving him a gentle smile.

The hope in the blue depths grew, and Alfred nudged him back. "That's- That's good. It's something worth fighting for, yeah?"

"Indeed." Arthur chuckled slightly, and then cleared his throat awkwardly. "A-Anyway, once you're human again, we can go and talk to Gilbert, yes?"

Alfred nodded happily. "Yeah! I wonder if he'll remember me..." He suddenly shifted around, presenting his bandage-clad shoulders to the knight. "Oh! Could you take these off now? And the ones on my leg?"

"Hm? Ah, yes, of course." Arthur reached up to the dragon's shoulders and felt around for the end of the bandage, unraveling it slowly and carefully to reveal the skin underneath.

Alfred let out a groan of pleasure when he felt Arthur's hands on him. "Does it look bad?"

"Well, it definitely looks _better_." Arthur replied, frowning at the injured patches on the dragon. He gently ran his hands along them. "But how does it feel?"

"Mmmmmh-" Alfred leaned into him. "Itches." he muttered. "Scratch me?"

Arthur furrowed his brows but complied anyway, taking care not to be too harsh. "Does it hurt at all? It probably isn't good to scratch like this."

"Yeah, it hurts a bit if you press down too hard." Alfred let out a low whine. "But it just feels so _good_. Plus, my mom said itching is a sign that it's healing nicely."

"Yes, but scratching it could make it infected..." Arthur murmured in response, lightening his touch a tad just to ensure he didn't infect it.

"I'm sure ya won't." Alfred told him confidently.

"All right." the knight replied. "So you want me to take the ones on your leg off?"

"Sure." Alfred shifted so his hind leg was closer to him. His front half curled around so he could keep looking at Arthur though.

Arthur unwrapped the bandages slowly, dumping them on the cave floor once they were off. "Does this feel all right too?" he asked, brushing the injury lightly to test it.

Alfred winced a little but quickly covered it up. "Yeah! It's perfect!" He moved his head over and sniffed at Arthur's back. "What about you? How does your back feel?"

"Mm, still a little sore." Arthur admitted, rubbing where the cut was. "But it's a lot better than it was. How does it look? Likely to open any time soon?"

"Mmmm, looks good." Alfred moved closer and sniffed at it again before giving the spot the gentlest lick he could manage. "It's scabbing nice and thick, so it shouldn't open. But just try not to make any weird twisting poses for the next few days and you should be good!"

Arthur gave a slight laugh, turning back towards the dragon. "Well I'm not planning to any time soon anyway."

"Good." Alfred licked his cheek.

Smiling at the other, Arthur sat down in his place. "So...anything more you want to know about my past? I know I wasn't giving the most coherent explanation earlier..."

Alfred curled around him, his nose right next to Arthur's side. "Could you go into more detail about the knight stuff?" he asked softly, not wanting to push Arthur too much. "If you don't wanna, that's okay too..."

"Yes, of course that's fine. What sort of things do you want to hear about? How I started off or maybe some adventures?"

"Both! Both!" Alfred's tail swished against the ground eagerly.

Arthur chuckled at the other's endearing behaviour. "Okay, okay. Well, let's see...it was always going to be my job to become a knight anyway, due to my dad. As I've said, we're a long line of top knights. It's just my luck that I was good enough to be a king's knight." Arthur began his tale a little wistfully, furrowing his brows as he tried to remember. "I think it was...almost ten years ago now? They usually take on new recruits when at age sixteen or above, but they seemed to think my skills were honed enough to have me join early. Obviously, my father's influence helped. In the space of a year and a half, I had lost my father, completed most of my training, and killed a man. As soon as that happened, of course, I was demoted to the very bottom ranks. They couldn't get rid of me due to my skill, but they couldn't keep me due to my crime. So that's when Gilbert started training me; he was the only one insane enough to hand me a sword and teach me how to use it better. I had to have special training to deal with my state of mind too, just to prove that it was anger that drove me, and not insanity. It took a while, but I finally made it to the rank of a knight, and I was finally seen as equal to the others." That last bit was a lie; there was no way he was seen as an equal. But Arthur chose to ignore that. "Anyway, from there onwards it was a relatively short amount of time before I became the king's number one knight. And it's been that way for about five years."

Alfred gave a low whine. "I'm sorry, Artie..." he murmured, placing a paw lightly in Arthur's lap as a means of comfort. Or at least he hoped Arthur saw it as comforting. He squeezed Arthur's legs gently with the paw and looked up at him with mournful eyes. "I-I think it's stupid that you were demoted- people do crazy things for the people they love, after all." he mused. "I promise I'll find a way for you to finish your current mission, to do with me." He didn't really know how else to comfort the knight, but he only hoped he didn't anger him more.

Arthur blinked in surprise at the touch on his legs, looking up to give Alfred a small smile. "Don't be ridiculous." he said quietly. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about, it's just my sodding past. And I wouldn't have felt right continuing as a knight after that anyway." His expression then changed to a frown as he recalled the dragon's last sentiment. "Alfred, that mission ended when I met you. My current mission is to protect you and help you return to your human self." he gently murmured.

"No." Alfred shook his head. "It's not over. You said it yourself, we're both wanted now cuz of what happened with Lancelot and stuff." He was going to die tomorrow, he knew it. But... "I'm gonna help you clear your name, I promise. You will finish that mission and still be an awesome knight." he vowed.

"How exactly are you going to do that? The king's an understanding person, I can just explain the situation to him." the knight insisted.

Alfred shook his head. "I can't- I don't know yet." he lied. "But I will. I don't want you to just explain it and have it blow over. That won't make the other knights respect you, will it? Plus, Lancelot might open his stupid mouth and try to get the king against you. Who knows, he might have already done that." He shook his head. "No, my way is better."

"You don't even have a 'way', Alfred." Arthur scolded. "And besides, my mission was to kill you, remember?" The knight sighed as his voice grew quieter. "Quite frankly, I'd rather quit my knighthood."

Alfred smiled sadly, but narrowed his eyes. "No!" he growled. "Don't say that, Arthur. Just- trust me, all right? And don't you even dare think about quitting knighthood for my sake." he said sharply, staring intently at Arthur, his blue eyes hard. "Understand?"

"Wh-" Arthur stared, shocked at his friend's aggressiveness. "I don't intend to. I was only saying I'd rather that than _killing_ you." he replied, quiet but firm.

"Good." Alfred felt a bit silly at his mistake- of course he didn't mean _that_ much to Arthur. But he pushed those thoughts aside and licked Arthur's cheek before moving his head away and placing it on top of his paws, staring out of their shallow cave at the darkening sky.

Arthur, on the other hand, was fully determined to let go of neither his profession nor Alfred. He stood and went to sort out the mountain of meat, placing it all on the blanket to wrap up. "Do you want any of this, or do you want to get some sleep?" the knight asked, looking back at Alfred as he shoveled a small amount into his mouth for the night.

"Sleep. I'm not hungry, but thanks for the offer." Alfred's eyes flicked to him, and then back to the sky for a brief moment. Then he shifted, curling up into is customary ball. "Climb right in when you're ready."

Arthur finished off what he was eating, and then settled down with Alfred. He lay still for a while, lost in though. "Do you think you'll miss it at all?" the knight asked, murmuring in case Alfred was already asleep.

Alfred stirred a bit. "Miss what? Being a dragon?"

"Yeah."

"I...I'll miss parts of it, like flying. That's fun." Alfred said thoughtfully, his voice soft. "But it's a curse. And 'sides, I miss being human. It's not very fun when everyone who sees you just thinks you're a vicious, stupid animal and just wants to kill you..."

"I can imagine..." Alfred replied softly. "But hey, I don't think that." he said, nudging Alfred with his elbow in an attempt to comfort the dragon.

Alfred grinned softly at him, even though he knew Arthur wouldn't be able to see it. "I know. I'm glad you don't." He lightly nudged the human before closing his eyes. "G'night, Artie..."

"Good night, Alfred." Arthur whispered as he fell slowly asleep. He rose early the next morning, coming slowly out of his slumber, with his own thoughts for company. He lay there, waiting for Alfred to wake.

Alfred woke up not long after that, his stomach churning. Automatically he held Arthur tighter against him. "Mornin'." he murmured, voice tense. "You ready, or you wanna eat first?"

The knight smiled sympathetically at the tone of Alfred's voice and stroked the closest scales soothingly. "It'd probably be a good idea to eat something quickly, but we'll go as soon as you're ready."

"Okay." Alfred uncurled and let him go. "Not too much though." While he waited for Arthur to get the food out and eat, he absentmindedly raked his claws across the stone floor, leaving deeper and deeper grooves with each pass.

Arthur ate quickly, then, noticing what he was doing, went back to Alfred. "Hey." he interrupted softly, raising his hand to pet Alfred's head. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Alfred stopped his motions immediately, not wanting there to be any chance that he could hurt the human somehow. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Looking between the ruts in the ground and Alfred, Arthur heaved a small sigh and gently stroked the dragon, speaking quietly. "If anyone can do this, it's us."

"I know." Alfred licked his cheek and then crouched before him. "Let's go then?"

Arthur smiled at the other, before mounting his back for what was probably the last time. _One last flight_. he thought.

* * *

**A/N**: Next chapter's the big fight~


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: This is it! Sorry for the long wait ^^;

* * *

Alfred stepped up to the ledge and paused, looking out across the trees. "Let's do this." he muttered, and then stepped off into thin air. Wings beating powerfully, he looped around the mountain and shot, straight as an arrow- not from Arthur's bow, that's for sure- towards Ivan's house.

After about an hour and a half, their destination came into view. It was a small, dark castle, sitting on a bed of sharp grey stone. The castle was formed of black rocks that seemed to suck the light from the surrounding areas, and was full of tall, spindly spires and sharp edges. The whole place gave off an unfriendly feel, and even the trees nearest the walls looked to be half dead. It was extraordinary that just one person lived there, but then again this was Ivan.

Alfred swallowed. "That's it..." he called back softly, his voice hoarse.

Arthur looked at the castle, and he had to admit that the very sight of it gave him chills. "Have we got a plan of any sort? Anything I should have warning of?" He had a nervous pit in his stomach now that he was actually seeing the place, and he did not like the way it unsettled him so.

"Just go in." Alfred replied, aiming for the castle. "He's a witch, so there's not many plans we could make that would actually work." He landed before the gates and his head automatically lowered a bit under the power of the magic and unpleasant memories there.

Arthur's eyes widened for a moment before he locked his jaw and steeled himself for the fight ahead. It would not do to lose courage at this point. "Are we able to just walk in there?"

"Yeah." Alfred took a deep breath and then, "OI! Ivan, open up!" he yelled.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur flinched slightly at the shout. Surely he wouldn't come out for that?

Alfred just stood there, waiting.

A few moments later, footsteps echoed out over the battlements, drawing closer and closer, becoming louder along the way. Eventually, Ivan poked his head over. "Fredka!" he called out, his voice sweet. "Have you finally come crawling back to me? Oh, and you brought a guest!"

The dragon let out a growl.

Arthur's eyes were fixated on the man before him, narrowing as he watched him. So this was the bastard who had cursed Alfred and led his father away. His grip on his sword tightened.

Ivan's smile grew. "Come in, come in!" He waved a hand and the gates started slowly opening. "So, Fredka, has your little punishment been enough for you to join me again?"

Alfred growled again, louder. "Don't call me that."

"Why?" Ivan's head tilted to the side a bit in apparent confusion. "You loved it when I called you that, remember?" he purred. "That one night, remember how you screamed for me when I thrust-"

"Enough!" Alfred snapped his jaws at the witch, though his head lowered even more when Ivan's eyes narrowed.

Arthur winced a little, horrified by Ivan's words- and, admittedly, terribly, there was a pang of jealousy there too- and reached a hand to Alfred's neck to soothe him slightly. Even though he wanted to run the witch through with his sword right that second. "Let's go in." he muttered darkly to Alfred, in the hopes that Ivan wouldn't hear.

Alfred nodded ever so slightly and entered the castle's courtyard, his steps slow and deliberate. The castle's black walls rose above them, surrounding them, trapping them. He didn't like the feel of that. The gates slammed shut behind them now and he flinched at the sound, but took a few more steps forward.

The witch descended from the battlements, tan cloak flaring out behind him. He walked right up to Alfred, who- he noted with pleasure- was frozen in place, and lightly stroked the dragon's face. "Oh Fredka, Fredka, perhaps if you beg, I'll let you back into my good graces, hmm?" he asked, ignoring the knight.

Arthur stared at Ivan for a moment, then, noticing Alfred's terrified face, took a deep breath, clenched his jaw, and drew his blade, pointing it directly at the witch. "Don't touch him." he said fiercely. He was aware it probably wouldn't have any effect, but he had to do something.

Ivan looked up at him and stepped back. "And who are you?" he asked, his voice extremely polite.

"Arthur Kirkland, first knight to the king." the knight said, sword still trained on Ivan. "I'm here to arrest you...for your crimes against the kingdom and the use of dark magic." Arthur fought to keep his voice steady, his face stoic but determined, readying himself for anything.

"How cute!" Ivan just laughed in delight. "Another Kirkland! It's a pleasure to meet you. The last one didn't last very long, though his screams were delicious." The witch smiled, and tapped Alfred harshly on the nose when the dragon whined. "Perhaps you will last longer?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed into green slits of fury, his hand clenching tighter around his blade. "I will last longer than _you_ and that's all that matters!" he spat, preparing himself to jump off Alfred's back.

Alfred felt the shift of weight on his back and jerked backwards. "No, Artie. Ivan, leave him alone."

"I don't feel like it." Ivan chuckled some more. "I am interested now. Oh! I have a proposition. Instead of you having to break the curse the old way, how about you just give him to me instead, Fredka? Then I'll turn you back, I promise."

Alfred didn't even hesitate a second. "Never." he hissed.

Arthur looked at Ivan, and then stared at Alfred when he gave his answer, seemingly trying to frantically make his mind up on a decision. "I'll stay." he said as his eyes shot back to the witch.

Alfred's mind went into full-on panic mode at the thought of Arthur being subjected to Ivan's cruelty. "No!" he snapped, rearing and leaping backwards so they were a good distance away, under the battlements near one of the four corners. He reached up and plucked Arthur from his shoulders, cradling the knight briefly to himself before setting him down. "No." he hissed again, eyes wide but determined. "That is not happening, do you hear me? No, I won't allow it."

Ivan just watched them in amusement.

"Well then you tell me how we're going to kill this guy!" Arthur whispered in return, frowning at Alfred. "So far this is the only option we've been presented with. Unless you let me fight him."

"Dragonfire." Alfred breathed. "Not even Ivan's magic can stand up to it or protect him from it. And no, you're not going near him." With that Alfred stepped back and gently pushed Arthur into the corner, before barricading him in with his fire. The magical flames burned bright and stuck to the bare rock easily. Then, the dragon turned and advanced on Ivan.

"Alfred!" Arthur called, unsure whether he was desperate or angry. He glanced around, looking for some way out. _Damnit..._ There was no other option- Arthur charged towards the flames, sure he could put up with them to get to Alfred, but they were hundreds of times hotter than a normal flame. The knight staggered backwards, only sparing his scorched shoulder a glance before calling out again. "ALFRED!"

Ivan's eyes hardened. "So you are still a traitor." he spat, the smile having slipped from his face. It was replaced with a darker, wilder look. "YOU LOVED ME!"

"Yeah." Alfred spat, ignoring Arthur. "Loved." And with that he leapt at the witch, teeth bared.

But Ivan easily teleported himself out of the way, and at the same time uttered a spell under his breath. A moment later, when Alfred landed, he found himself shackled to the spot his paws touched, a black collar with matching chains around his neck. Cuffs circled his paws, and all the chains were firmly embedded into the floor. The dragon roared and tried getting out, to no avail. His body heaved against the chains, but they were too strong.

"NO!"

Ivan smirked. He turned his attention to Arthur, and sent a great wave of water his way to douse the flames. "Now, what to do with you?" The twisted smile was back on his face. "You shall scream for me, _da_?"

Arthur could have sworn he would go crazy not knowing what was happening outside of the flames- every small noise only increased his need to know. As soon as the wall of fire was gone, the knight's eyes shot from Ivan to Alfred in chains. He looked back at Ivan, his eyes scared, but oh so very angry and determined, and spoke in a fierce hiss. "I will not give you the pleasure."

Ivan thought for a moment. He glanced back to Alfred, who was still struggling furiously. Smoke was pouring out of the dragon's mouth, evidence of recent fire-spewing. The witch turned back to Arthur and smiled. "I will not give you a choice. Once you are gone, the only thing Fredka cares about, he will come running back to me, begging for attention. We will be happy again someday. I will not let you ruin that." Purple energy crackled between his hands.

"No! NO!" Once Ivan's attention was off him, Alfred frantically resumed trying to melt through the chains. It was slowly working, he saw them heating up, but if the damned metal didn't get hotter soon, it would be too late. Arthur wouldn't survive a blast from Ivan like that; he'd be disintegrated. If Arthur died- no. He wouldn't think about that, he _couldn't_. The flames pouring from his mouth increased, and he broke free the moment Ivan shot the energy straight at Arthur.

Claws ripping into the ground to give him extra speed during the initial leap, Alfred hurtled between them just in time. He sent off a fireball at Ivan right as the purple force hit him in the chest and sent him crashing into the wall. He dimly heard the bones on his right side snap from the impact, but he was more focused on watching Ivan's screaming form burn to ashes. His body then fell from the wall onto the ground and he laid there, breath coming out in rattles, muscles twitching, fighting to breathe past the gaping hole in his chest.

Arthur had tightened his grip on his sword, getting ready to charge the witch. Just as he took his first step, Alfred came between him and Ivan, and then everything happened so quickly- the next thing Arthur knew, he was standing shell-shocked, staring at the burning person before him. He risked a glance at Alfred, and immediately his breath was taken from him as he rushed towards his friend. "Alfred!" The cry came out of his mouth as he crashed down beside the dragon's head, searching his body with wide green eyes.

Alfred coughed weakly and grinned, even more blood pouring out of his body at the strain. "A-Artie..."

Arthur tore his eyes away from the excessive wound to look at Alfred's face, finally finding his breath again. "No, Alfred..." he said, his voice shaking as he cradled the other's head in his hands.

"I-I had ta..." Alfred wheezed a bit and tried not to wince at the pain coming everywhere from his body. "I couldn't let him...kill...kill you. I told you ta trust me..." Dark spots danced in his eyes and he felt fear flash through him, but then he calmed. He was with Arthur. It would be all right.

Staring at the other, Arthur shook his head slightly and then moved in so their faces were together, staring into the depths of blue. "Alfred, please..." he whispered as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. "Please don't let this be all for nothing, please, s-stay with me...please...stay..." By now the tears were running down his face in a steady stream, dripping and pooling onto Alfred's scales.

Alfred let out a low whine, more blood once again gurgling from his chest. "I love you, Artie." he whispered. "Please don't- don't cry. It'll be fine... But you...you gotta do somethin' for me, kay?"

Arthur took two deep gulps of air, trying to steady himself, feeling a fresh batch of tears waiting at Alfred's words. "Wh-What?"

"Look around..." All around them were golden scales from Alfred's chest that had been dislodged by the blast. They were all covered in blood, some more than others. "Take 'em. Show 'em to the king... Clear...clear you name, okay?" The edges of his vision grew dark as his breathing became more and more laboured, and Alfred blinked rapidly.

"I'm sorry..." Arthur's jaw shook as he tried to get the words out. "I'm sorry, Alfred... Please, stay...stay alive."

"Clear your name, Artie." Alfred repeated, more forcefully this time. "Please... And don't be sorry, ain't your fault." He weakly nuzzled to him, and his tongue flicked out to brush against Arthur's cheek before falling listlessly to the ground.

Arthur pressed their foreheads together, pulling himself to the other in the closest resemblance to a hug possible. "...Okay." he whispered after a while, and then, "I don't want you to go."

Alfred let out another low whine, finding it hard to focus on Arthur. It was getting harder and harder to hold on, and he knew he didn't have much time left. "I'll be fine..." he said hoarsely. "Trust me. I love you, Arthur..."

A fresh wave of tears rolled down Arthur's cheeks, his words getting stuck in his throat. "D-Damnit, Alfred..." he choked out, his next words spoken quietly on a breath. "I love you too. So don't...bloody die on me now."

A soft croon made its way out of Alfred's throat, and he weakly nuzzled to the knight again. He really didn't have much time left now. Oh, how badly he wanted to tell Arthur that it was all going according to plan, that this was the way to break the curse, but he couldn't risk it. He just didn't know if any forewarning on Arthur's part would skew what would happen. His eyes dimmed further, and his sight was reduced to a small tunnel of vision. Arthur took up all of it.

"Don't...don't cry, Artie." he murmured, voice slowly stuttering out. "It'll be okay... Don't- Don't hate me, kay?" He coughed, and his eyes slipped shut as his final breath rattled out of him.

"How can you tell me not to cry, idiot?" the knight hissed out, cradling Alfred's face. When the dragon didn't respond, Arthur stilled, eyes wide. "Alfred? Alfred, don't do this, don't..."

Suddenly, under Arthur's hands, Alfred began to fade. Arthur watched in shock, eyes searching Alfred quickly disappearing form, not wanting to believe this was happening, until soon there was nothing below him and he was left alone, surrounded by blood and scattered scales. Arthur collapsed, head hitting the floor, and finally succumbed to sobs. They wracked his entire body violently and drowned out everything else.

Throughout the next hour or so- though it felt like so much longer to him- Arthur's tears gradually dried up until there was nothing left. No feeling, no sense of being, and he stood, numb. Looking around, he dumped everything that was in his pack to the floor absentmindedly, no longer caring about his possessions. Then he refilled the bag with a handful of dyed-red golden scales, an odd silence settling around him.

How long would it take him to get back to the capital? It took over a week for them to get to Ivan's place, and that was flying. How would he get back? Arthur had always realized the journey home would be a long one. He just never expected to be making it alone.

Once his pack was full and all the scales were gathered up, he turned his back and walked out of a small side door in the wall into the blazing sunshine, leaving the scene of death and destruction behind him.

* * *

**A/N**: Next two chapters are gonna be a bit weird, but I'll explain that when I post them~


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: Both this chapter and the next one take place over the same amount of time, just with different perspectives. This is what happens to Arthur, and next chapter will be Alfred. Enjoy!

* * *

It took a long time for Arthur to get to some place he even recognized. Most of the time he was simply walking through forest, with only his thoughts for company. Though he tried not to think about Alfred too much. The first night alone he almost broke down again when it came time to sleep, but he mentally berated himself a bit about how he was a knight and therefore used to sleeping alone on the ground and somehow managed to hold himself together.

He lucked out on the third day, meeting some travelers who were going in the same general direction he was and were willing to take him to the nearest town, where he would be able to gain supplies and directions. He felt a bit silly; practically the greatest knight in the kingdom, having to ask directions? But he had no other options, so ask he did.

The knight then proceeded to hop from town to town, walking and joining other travelers until one kind soul offered him a horse. After that it was easier, but no less lonely; even surrounded by the other people on the road, Arthur had never felt so alone in his life, or at least so it seemed. Eventually, after about three weeks or so (Arthur had more or less lost track of time), he found himself in a very familiar town- the first town he had visited on his journey, where he had left the robbers to their fates, and he knew he was only a few days away from the capital.

He rode on through the forests, driving his horse hard, only slowing about two days later when he came to a place he faintly recognized. He frowned, trying to place where he knew that riverbank from, and as he turned to look around to perhaps gain some more clues, his eyes widened in recognition.

Alfred's cave.

Tethering his horse to a nearby tree, Arthur slowly made his way towards the cave, a strange nervousness inside him. As he stepped into the cave, he looked around it, relaxing somewhat as he spun around in a slow circle. He reached the back wall and just stood, looking up at the tapestry he remembered Alfred had introduced to him- his most 'prized possession'. Tears began to prickle at Arthur's eyes for the first time in almost a month, and he stood for a long time just examining the tapestry, taking in every detail. Then, in one swift movement, he ripped it off the wall and folded it in his pack, his movements out of instinct and not of consciousness. He quickly turned and left for his borrowed horse, wanting to get away from that place without looking back.

He would reach his destination in a couple of days.

* * *

Upon entering the capital, Arthur kept his head low and blended in with the crowd as best as he could, not wanting his presence to be noticed quite yet. He weaved through the surges of people in the markets and ducked down alleyways to avoid any sightings. As he exited an alley, he noticed a group of knights, including Lancelot, look his way. And he found he really didn't care.

"Treasoner!" Lancelot shouted as he drew his sword, fury evident in his voice.

Arthur simply glared at him, opening the bag containing all the bloodied scales and thrusting the evidence in his face.

Lancelot could only close his mouth and narrow his eyes as Arthur continued to the castle. As he neared it, he strode towards it with his head held high, no longer bothered with hiding himself, and he marched straight to the throne room, bowing before his king.

The king narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Arthur. "I heard from some of the others that you had committed treason against the kingdom and sided with the dragon. Is this true?"

Arthur gulped. This was it. "No, sire." he said quietly, but steadfastly. He felt terrible lying about all of this, but the last wish of his dying companion burned in his mind, and he would not allow it to go unfulfilled.

"Then why does Lancelot insist so strongly that you have? And where have you been all this time?"

Arthur looked up and reached for his bag, holding it out to the king. Immediately, the guards around the room trained their weapons on him, only relaxing when the king waved his hand at them. He frowned slightly at the pack, taking it. Arthur watched his royal highness as the man carefully took out the scales, examining each one individually with scrutiny.

"Ahh...I...I was with the dragon, yes. He was showing me the way to a criminal's hideout. Both the dragon and...the terrible rumored witch, Ivan, have been slain."

The king looked back up at Arthur with surprised eyes, delight slowly shining through on his face. "Well, this is most excellent news!" he chuckled. "Arthur, I must present to you the highest honour for this deed...although, I suppose, after something as arduous as this, you may want to rest a little. You simply must tell the rest of the tale when you are rested though."

"Y-Yes sire, thank you." the knight stuttered out.

"You may leave, Sir Arthur."

Arthur stood with a nod of his head, before turning and leaving the throne room in search of a certain albino.

Gilbert was in one of the training courtyards, yelling at some new recruits. "Higher, you incompetent dummkopfs, _higher_! Raise those blades higher if you want to actually do damage!"

The recruits all flinched and raised their blades, though he could see some arms starting to tremble under the new pressure. He sighed, shaking his head. It would be a long road to get them ready for any type of military position, much less knighthood. He leaned on his broadsword and looked across the courtyard. Matthew was due to come by with food and drink in a bit, but he was surprised to see one of his old students entering.

"Ah, Gilbert." Arthur gave the other a small, tired smile. "May I talk to you for a moment?" he asked, surveying the new recruits. He remembered his early days of training with Gilbert; he could be a tough trainer, but he was very good at it, and he was always ready to let loose.

"Sure, Kirkland." Gilbert turned to the recruits. "Right! You lazy asses break from swinging those sticks like little pussies and get to the push ups!" he snapped, and then led Arthur to a quieter corner. "So what do you want? Heard you were seen cavorting with the dragon."

Arthur tutted to himself. "Yes, well... I can't entirely deny that. Did they also tell everyone about the part where they locked him in a cellar for two nights intending to cut him up and sell him on the black market, rather than bring him to the king? I suppose not." The knight took a deep breath to calm himself and looked up at the other. "...Do you remember Alfred? I'm here for his brother."

"Whoa there, easy Kirkland." Gilbert raised his hands in a placating gesture, but then his eyes narrowed. "Alfred? As in Alfred F. Jones? How do you know about him? What do you want with Matthew?"

Well, that confirmed it. "I just need to speak to him. Don't worry, you can stay too." Arthur took a deep breath before his next sentence. "I know where Alfred's been all these years."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, and then suddenly slammed Arthur up against the wall. "Kirkland, I swear if you get Matthew's hopes up just to shatter them..." He didn't even bother finishing the threat.

Arthur's eyes flashed dangerously, barely even flinching as he was shoved up against the wall. "This is not about 'hopes'! He has a right to know what happened to his brother!" Arthur's voice grew louder as he spoke, frowning at his mentor.

Gilbert stared at him flatly for a moment more, and then backed off. "You don't know what Alfred's leaving did to him. I don't want him to go through that again."

"I know." Arthur replied, quieter this time. "And I don't know whether this is going to be better or worse. But I think it's better."

Red eyes flicked sharply back to Arthur's face for a moment. "He should be coming around soon. You're welcome to stay and watch or something until then." Gilbert said, and then returned to his recruits.

Arthur took a deep breath, steeling himself, and he wondered if this was really the right path to travel on. He found a seat and settled down in it, watching the recruits as he waited.

About half an hour later, another man entered the courtyard. Dark blond hair shining in the sunlight, he walked up to Gilbert and gave him a parcel, kissing his cheek quickly along the way.

"Hey, Birdie." Gilbert crooned, slinging an arm around his shoulders. He didn't miss the sighs of relief some of the boys gave; Matthew's appearance always meant an end to the training. The albino dismissed them and returned to his lover. "Someone wants to talk to you." he said, pointing a finger at Arthur.

Matthew looked over and sized the knight up before nodding. "All right. Let's go." He slipped out from under Gilbert's arm but took his hand instead as they walked over to Arthur. "Hello, I'm Matthew." he introduced himself.

"Arthur Kirkland." Arthur replied, holding a hand out. The knight hesitated, unsure how to approach the subject. "Shall we sit?" he asked, gesturing to the nearby bench.

"Sure." Matthew shook his hand quickly and then led the other two to the bench. "So, Arthur. What is it you want to talk about?"

"It's about your brother." Arthur said cautiously, sitting down. "I want to explain a few things..."

"My brother?" Matthew asked sharply. "Alfred?"

"Yes." Arthur cleared his throat. "I... Well, I knew him. He... I thought I should tell you where he's been all these years. And tell you that's he's..." The knight paused, looking down at his knees as he clenched his fists. "He's not with us anymore."

Matthew froze, and then started to laugh. "Don't joke with me, Sir Arthur. Alfred probably died long ago. There's no way you could have known him." He smiled kindly and patted Arthur's leg. "Now if you'll excuse us..." He rose.

"Matthew, please!" Arthur stood out of desperation. "Alfred was alive until just a few weeks ago, and he regrets leaving you and your mother more than anything else!"

Freezing again, Matthew looked long and hard at the knight, half concealed pain in his eyes. "W-What? How did you meet...? Where was he?" He started trembling ever so slightly.

Instantly, Gilbert was at his side, steadying him and whispering words of comfort into his ear. He pressed a kiss to Matthew's cheek before turning to stare at Arthur. "Explain. All of it. Now." he said flatly.

Arthur looked between the two's faces, instantly feeling the pressure being put on him. But he had to say this, not for himself, not even for Matthew, but for Alfred. "You've probably heard the rumors of a dragon. That...was a curse placed on Alfred by Ivan. I was one of the knights sent to kill him, but then I found out he was human and...I left with him to try and lift the curse."

Matthew's face turned white as the blood drained from it. "Alfred... Alfred was the dragon?" he asked hoarsely. "What happened? Tell me everything!"

"...When I got to his cave, he was injured, so I didn't kill him. Once he had healed, he mentioned he was actually human, and had been put under a curse by the witch Ivan. That's what made me trust him..." Arthur took deep breath, finding it surprisingly hard to bring some of this up, but he pressed on anyway. "I decided to travel with him to Ivan's to kill him, hoping this would lift the curse. Sometime later, I...found out they used to be lovers. From what I understand, Ivan did some terrible, frightening things. Alfred tried to leave, and...that was about twenty five years ago. A few days later he talked about his past. He...well he touched on running away with Ivan and leaving you and your mother. And he was truly very sorry." he insisted, eyes pleading. His voice began to wobble as he came to a realization. "He was young and he flew off with an interesting stranger, and because of that he lost his family and his humanity." He stood there for a moment, lost in his thoughts, before continuing. "We got to Ivan's castle and he...was indeed frightening. We fought against him, but Alfred held me back. He became chained to the floor, but when he saw Ivan coming at me, he..." Arthur took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. "They wiped each other out. He died...protecting me. I'm sorry."

The knight hung his head. How many people would die because of him?

Matthew listened to the story in silence, and by the end of it there were tears running down his face. "He was alive...and so close..." He sat down hard on the bench. "...What was he like?"

Looking down at Matthew, Arthur gave a sad smile. "He was a wonderful, friendly, ridiculous man, and an even more ridiculous dragon. And...the most human person I have ever had the pleasure to meet."

The older man examined Arthur's face closely, and then gave a knowing, but by no means less sad smile. "So he charmed you too..." he said quietly.

Arthur stared at the other for a few moments more, almost asking if there was a specific person in that 'you', but deciding against it, before sighing slightly. "If he managed me then...well, a guy like that, I imagine he charmed everybody he met."

"He did." Matthew smiled softly, and got up to wrap Arthur in a brief and gentle hug. "Thank you for telling me what happened." he said as he pulled away. "I appreciate it, really. But...if you'll really excuse me, it seems I have a brother to mourn...again." He turned away, fresh tears shining in his eyes.

Arthur nodded in understanding. "I really am sorry for your loss. And it was good to meet you."

"Thank you." Matthew said, his voice trembling the slightest bit. "You as well. Perhaps we'll see each other around, eh?"

Gilbert had remained stoic throughout the whole story, and now he looked to Arthur. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, and merely nodded to the knight before leading Matthew away, murmuring quietly into his ear and occasionally pressing kisses to his cheek or the side of his head.

Arthur watched the two as they left, feeling a slight weight off his chest.

A few days later, he found himself in front of half the population of the capital, being presented with honours for his services to the kingdom. He watched the medals with disdain as they were placed around his neck. He wished he didn't have to accept them, that he could tell the truth, but he had made a promise and he would keep it.

But there was no way he could ever see losing Alfred as a 'service to the kingdom'.

* * *

Over the next few months, Arthur went about his daily life feeling empty. He had tossed the medals he'd received into the deepest corner of his trunk and hadn't looked at them since. He had no idea what to do now that he had finished his quest, and the fact that he was being given a month long break to rest and recover did not help. So he wandered the castle, or sat in his room just looking at the tapestry- which he had hung on the wall at the foot of his bed- for hours on end, or visiting the market for apples.

During the second month, he started getting sent on missions again, after he was healed and his energy restored. He spent most of his time around the king, of course, protecting him in public or hanging around the throne room during the day, or protecting the people of the city. He was even put in command of a regiment of city guards of his own. It was a welcome distraction.

"Hey, have you heard about that new guy?" A knight in Arthur's regiment approached him with the question little more than eight months after Arthur had returned.

"If you mean the fast-track that came in with the new recruits, then yes, of course." Arthur clicked his tongue- he was not a fan of those who became knights too quickly, mainly because of his own personal experiences.

"I've heard he's learning very fast, doing real well. An excellent fighter. He might even be better than you, at this rate." the other knight teased.

Arthur glared at him. "That's hardly likely." he replied smoothly.

The rumours only seemed to grow, and indeed this mysterious to-be knight did seem to be moving quickly, but Arthur could not bother himself with yet another child who thought he could become a good knight purely by fighting well. It took more than that- spirit. Honour. Resilience. For the first time in a number of months, Arthur looked up from his seat on the bed at Alfred's tapestry, really looking at it properly, and remembered what if felt like to be all of those things as a knight.

More months flew by and eventually Arthur hit the two year mark of being back, and the day of the second annual knighting ceremony since he returned arrived, and he was of course required to attend it.

He stood by the side of the king, ready to offer his sword to knight those who deserved the title, and stared straight ahead as they waited for the trainees to roll in.

* * *

**A/N**: I'll try to get Alfred's part up on Sunday~


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N**: Alfred's bit!

* * *

Alfred awoke in the woods near the village where he was born and grew up, though he didn't know it at first. He groaned as he opened his eyes, his chest and back seeming to be on fire. Hours passed and the pain finally subsided, and he could move once more. He got up, the first thing he noticed being the size of the trees. They were bigger than he was. His eyes widened and he looked down, wanting to cry with relief.

He was human again.

Sure, there was the massive silvery splatter-shaped scar over his chest and he could feel other scars on his back and leg from the old ropes, but he was_ human_. His eyes eagerly ran over his body, taking everything in, and for the first time in a long time, he felt right again.

He took a step forward and almost fell to the ground again, but caught himself on a nearby sapling just in time. Breathing heavily, he gathered his strength and focused, and then moved forward and a slow but steady pace. It felt odd to walk upright on two legs again and not feel the weight of his wings or tail, but he got used to it fairly quickly. At first he didn't recognize where he was, but when he stepped out of the forest his eyes zeroed in on a small cottage and he gasped, feeling pain spasm through his chest at the sight of his old home.

As he was stark naked, he quickly ran, stumbling occasionally, to the shelter of the cottage, which appeared to be empty. And so it was. It looked as if the place had been abandoned years ago. Pushing down disappointment and worry (what had happened to Mattie and his mother?), he entered it and found his old room. Nothing had changed in it, and he was pleased to see all of his old possessions still there, though at the moment he was more focused on clothing. Since he hadn't grown all that much between the time when he ran away and the time he was cursed, the shirts and pants still fit him, and he packed a few sets of spares into a cloth satchel he found laying around.

Then he focused on some of the other items in the cottage, though he tried not to look too long or think too much about any particular thing, because it all brought back memories and pain and regret. His chest felt tighter and tighter until he thought he would cave in on himself, and he dashed outside to escape the place.

The question of his mother was answered then. As he turned towards the road a flash of grey caught his eye, and he glanced over at it. There, up against a fence leading to the fields, was a small grave. He stopped before it and, crying silently, paid his respects to the woman who had given birth to him and raised him. But he couldn't stay there for too long and, rising and wiping his tears, he left for a second time, once more not looking back.

He had to get to Arthur, but before that, he had to become worthy of the knight. He knew Arthur might not think so, might insist that he already was more than worthy, but in his heart he knew he had to be equal of him. For a knight of such high ranking, for Arthur to be with just a lowly peasant wouldn't be good, even if said peasant used to be cursed into a dragon.

He walked for days, looking for a larger town where he could sign up as a recruit or at least catch a ride to the capital. It was slow going at first, as Alfred continued to get back into the swing of his human body, but he was a quick adapter so by the second day he physically felt as though the curse had never happened, the only reminders he had of that being the scars.

After a week he found what he was looking for, and approached the knight in charge of sign-ups. He assumed this was a lower-ranking knight, as he was wearing a uniform similar to that of his tormentors when he had been held by Lancelot. Oh man, Lancelot. The bastard had it coming to him, and coming with all the strength of a former dragon. Alfred grinned at the very thought of what he would do, but now he focused on actually getting in.

"So you want to sign up?" the knight asked, looking at him doubtfully. Sure, the kid was big and looked to be strong, but he was a peasant. Peasants just weren't usually even considered for the ranks...

"Yes." Alfred replied firmly. "I know I don't come from a high class or anything, but let me at least prove myself." he begged. "I can fight real well!"

"Hm." The knight thought for a while, and then finally called over one of his companions. "If you can beat him," he said, pointing to the new knight. "Then you're in."

Alfred was given a sword and shield, and then set loose on the man. The poor knight barely knew what hit him. His years as a dragon had given him plenty of opponents to face, and of course most of them had different fighting styles. And while Alfred hadn't been able to practice their techniques, he had them memorized and now executed them with surprising speed and force. The lingering effects of the curse seemed to be extra strength and speed, and Alfred used them completely to his advantage. The knight was on the floor in less than a minute, disarmed with Alfred's sword at his throat.

"So," Alfred looked at the first knight. "Am I in?"

* * *

About a month later, they reached the capital. The going had been slow because they were recruiting along the way, and now there were about twenty other boys alongside him. At first a few of them had given him some shit since he was still a peasant and they were of a higher class, but he quickly set them straight and they didn't bother him anymore. His social butterfly side was really thriving for the first time in years, as he could talk with other people without them trying to kill him on first sight, and he quickly made some new friends.

In the capital, their training started, and they joined a group of existing trainees and were split up according to skill after an initial test. The recruiting knight was also the trainer of the top group, and he was tough but fair. At first they were set to just condition and tone their bodies, which was long work (and boring for Alfred, since he was already so strong, but he took the opportunity to revel in the workings of his human body). After a few weeks of that they actually moved onto fighting, which was again a bit mundane for him.

He freshened up on his skills and then learned new techniques like wildfire, and his mentor actually gave him extra lessons because he felt Alfred could be ready for knighthood at such a fast pace. Most of the other boys in his class were from previous years, and they looked down at him with slight disdain, but he ignored them.

"You know, you might actually be a match for the first knight, Arthur Kirkland." his instructor told him one day after their lessons.

"Really?" Alfred brightened, though he was panting hard from his routine. It was killing him that he was in the same city as Arthur but couldn't see him, but he told himself to be patient and wait. (Luckily for Lancelot, Alfred didn't see _him_.) Still, it was hard to draw his gaze away from the Knight's Barracks some days. "That's awesome!"

The instructor chuckled at his enthusiasm. "You'll be ready for knighthood not at this upcoming ceremony," he said, meaning the one in about a month. "But the one next year for sure. I don't think I've ever seen anyone complete their training more quickly."

Alfred grinned more and thanked him, and after that worked harder than ever. The year between the knighting ceremonies for him was spent touring the kingdom with his instructor and a small group of about six other boys. The exercise was so he could familiarize himself with the land, as well as gain some hands-on experience.

He did exceptionally well with that, too. He was told he had a very strong sense of wrong and right, and practically fit the image of the perfect knight to a T. The girls swooned over him, of course, but he politely turned them down, and even when he stutteringly admitted to liking boys, everyone accepted him better than he could have ever dreamed.

At one point, when they were on their way out on the tour, he snuck away from the group to go check on his cave to see if he could get his tapestry back. When he entered he froze- the back wall was empty. His tapestry was gone. He fell to his knees and wanted to cry. Admittedly a few sobs squeezed out of him, but after a few moments he gathered himself together and stood, wiping his cheeks dry before hurrying away from the place.

The months spent out there flew by for him, and suddenly it seemed they were back in the capital in time for the knighting ceremony. Only Alfred and four of the boys in their little band were truly ready, and as the date approached he became more and more nervous. The five of them who were ready were each given a custom suit of armour, and got to pick out their weapons of choice as well as their insignias.

Alfred chose the broadsword and bow (he had been practicing an extra amount at that, just so he could rub it in Arthur's face), and for his symbol he took on a golden dragon with sapphire blue eyes, a thin stream of flame shooting out from its opened jaws. He couldn't think of anything more fitting for himself.

Then, seemingly the next day, he found himself standing outside the hall where he was to be knighted, the first in the line of the boys since he was the best. The butterflies in his stomach exploded into a frenzy as the doors opened and he stepped through, but he kept his head high and strode confidently down to where the king was seated. The sunlight shone brilliantly off his golden hair and the dragon painted across his chest, and his blue eyes sparkled. Finally, it was time.

* * *

**A/N**: And next chapter everything comes together~


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**: And finally, their reunion~

* * *

The king had given the order for the doors to be opened and called out for the first on the list to knight. Throughout the whole time, Arthur stood looking determinedly forward at his side.

"Alfred F. Jones."

At the mention of the name, Arthur started, staring first at the king before his gaze switched to the man now walking towards them. He stared fixatedly at him, expressionless but wide-eyed, wordlessly handing his sword to the king to complete the ceremony with. His gaze never left this new man. _It can't be..._

Alfred bowed to the king and sank down on one knee, but just before he lowered his head, he glanced at Arthur and winked. His smile broadened a tiny fraction before it was completely hidden as he bowed his head.

"My liege..." he murmured.

Arthur frowned, shocked at this, and opened his mouth to say something, before rigidly returning to staring straight ahead, determinedly avoiding looking at the other as this...man was knighted. As the king performed the remaining ceremonies, he occasionally glanced at the new knight, before resuming his position again.

Once Alfred was knighted- he was Sir Alfred now, how cool was that?!- he stood straight and proud off to the side, opposite the already existing knights. His eyes sought out Lancelot, and he inconspicuously glared at the man.

Lancelot couldn't help but notice being glared at by one of the new knights, and he shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

Once the ceremonies had been completed, Arthur was handed back his sword, and he bowed to the king as he stepped forward. "Sire, I apologize, but may I be dismissed?" the knight asked.

The king looked at Arthur and sighed. "Arthur, it is your job to show the new knights the ropes. Seeing as you're the best I have, I've assigned you with Alfred. If you'd just show him around for now, you may be dismissed after."

Upon hearing the news Arthur's head rose in protest, but he knew better than to defy the king. "Yes, sire." he replied grimly, walking towards Alfred. "C'mon." he said, turning away sharply with a nod of his head, barely looking at the other. He simply refused to believe it.

Alfred's heart skipped a beat when Arthur approached him (he had been a bit nervous about what to do now), but he waited until they were out of the hall before pulling Arthur aside into a darkened alleyway and practically hurling himself on the other man, hugging him tightly.

Startled, Arthur pushed the other away, glancing him up and down. "What sort of sick joke is this?" he choked out angrily.

Hurt filled Alfred's eyes. "It's not a joke! It's me, Artie!" He stepped closer to the knight. "It's Alfred..."

"Alfred's dead." Arthur whispered, glaring at the man in front of him, the man who must be a fake, because there was no way, no way in hell...

"No..." Alfred gave him a faint smile. "That was the way to break the curse. I had to die- well, die being a relative term- for you. For someone who I loved and who loved me. I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you. I didn't know if it would work then. Artie, please. Look at me, look into my eyes. It's me..." He gently cupped Arthur's face in his hands and brought their faces together. His eyes were wide and honest and impossibly blue, exactly the same as before. "I love you, Artie..."

Arthur's eyes grew steadily wider as he recognized Alfred, Alfred was alive, and he opened his mouth to form words that would not come. And he wanted to kiss him, oh how he wanted to, but instead his body shifted its weight and his fist came forward and he hit Alfred square in the jaw, a multitude of emotion in his eyes as he struggled with his own internal conflict.

Alfred was knocked back a step, and his eyes widened even more in shock. His hand flew up to tentatively cradle the spot where Arthur had hit him, and a hurt expression settled on his face again. "I-I'm sorry, Artie..." he said softly. "I just- I just wanted to be worthy of you..."

Immediately, Arthur was on him, gripping his shirt and pulling them close together. "Two years, Alfred." he said through gritted teeth, his voice trembling. "I watched you die. I had to live without you for two years, you arrogant sod, now tell me why."

Alfred hung his head. "I told you, I wanted to be worthy! You- You deserve better than just a peasant, so I thought I'd become a knight so you'd be proud of being with me... If you even still wanna be with me..." His voice became uncertain and small. If he was still a dragon, he'd be cowering at Arthur's feet, staring up at him and pleading for forgiveness. Now all he could do was lower his gaze to his boots and pray Arthur wouldn't just storm away.

Arthur's grip loosened and he looked at the other with saddened eyes. "...You could've at least...talked to me..." he said, almost in a whisper.

Shoulders starting to tremble a bit, Alfred started to feel like he had made a big mistake. "I wanted to surprise you... M'sorry, m'sorry, please don't leave!"

Arthur looked properly at Alfred and let him go guiltily, looking away as he did so. "Two years..." he barely breathed out, his voice catching as he fought to hold himself together.

Alfred flinched slightly. "I'm sorry." he whispered, and then couldn't help it. He flung his arms around Arthur and pulled the smaller man close to his body. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Arthur. It was stupid, _I_ was stupid, I just wanted you to be proud to stand next to me, I'm sorry... Please don't go..." he choked out into Arthur's hair, and he wanted to cry in happiness as he breathed in the other knight's wonderful scent again. It was much fainter now as his nose wasn't as powerful as before, but it was still there and it was still Arthur.

Surprised at the sudden contact, Arthur stood still for a moment before reaching his arms around Alfred, pulling himself in closer. "...You were the one to go in the first place, idiot."

When Arthur did that, a tiny spark of hope flared in Alfred's chest. His arms tightened around Arthur even more. "I had to, to be human again." he mumbled.

"And you honestly think I'm leaving?" Arthur murmured in response, gently squeezing Alfred to ease his own tension a little.

"Well the way you were talking...and that punch didn't really help..." Alfred let out a slightly too loud laugh. He took another chance and nuzzled to Arthur, properly nuzzled to him, before pressing a quick kiss to the side of his head.

"I'm sorry. I...it was difficult." Arthur replied, though he had a slight smile at the sound of Alfred's laugher, and he let out a content sigh at the kiss, taking in the feeling of being held and just the fact that this was _Alfred_, _alive_ and _human_.

"Don't be sorry, Artie." Alfred pulled away slightly and his hands moved up to cup Arthur's face again. He reveled in the feeling of just being able to do that and a warm, broad smile came to his face. "I'm the one who should be sorry, and I can't imagine what it felt like, but I promise I won't ever leave you like that again..." he whispered, and his smile had turned slightly sad at the beginning of his words. He lowered his head until their foreheads were pressing together, and he lightly rubbed his nose against Arthur's.

Arthur tried to find words, but none came, and he was left staring at this incredible man, at his blazing blue eyes, and it was all he could do to not kiss him there and then. Oh damn it all to hell, the knight threw himself what little distance there was left and closed the gap between their lips.

Alfred moaned and kissed back with fiery passion, pushing Arthur up against a wall and holding him there. His lips molded perfectly to Arthur's, and after a moment he opened his mouth to let Arthur in if he desired. This was better than he could have ever imagined, and his arms trembled from happiness as he held the knight against him.

Gasping as he was pushed against the wall, Arthur gripped Alfred closer, surprised at how quickly he's reacted. He gladly accepted Alfred's unspoken offer and gently ran his tongue along the inside of the other's bottom lip, opening his eyes a crack to look at his lover. Alfred had whimpered a bit in happiness, eyes closed and face flushed as his own tongue darted out to play with Arthur's. After a few moments of twisting together, his tongue retreated and coaxed the other knight's after it. The smaller man let out a slight groan, allowing his tongue to venture into Alfred's mouth to explore. One of his hands moved up to tangle in the other's blond locks.

Alfred pressed more against him, holding the kiss for a few moments more until the necessity of breath forced him to pull away. "That... That was amazing..." he murmured breathlessly, leaning his head a little bit into Arthur's hand.

Arthur took a few deep breaths. "It was a bit." he said in agreement, between pants.

Alfred hugged him again, before stepping away. "I believe you were ordered to show me around?" he asked, taking hold of Arthur's hand and squeezing it gently.

Startled a little by Alfred taking his hand, Arthur looked away, narrowing his eyes as a small blush dusted his cheeks. "Yes, I was..." he replied, before clearing his throat and heading out of the alleyway.

Alfred only gripped his hand tighter, swinging their joined limbs together as they walked. "So. Tell me where everything is!" he said cheerfully, lightly bumping his shoulder against Arthur's in happiness.

"All right, all right." Arthur said, though, try as he might, he couldn't completely wipe the smile from his face. "Well, since you've only just joined the ranks, you only really need to know the basics. Each day for now, you'll need to go there-" He pointed to a set of benches under a thatched roof. "To get your assignments for the day. And if you come over here," he continued, now gesturing towards a large boards, around which stood a number of knights. "This is a board with extra quests which you can try and take on if you're available. It's a good way to get a little extra money. The first few months are essentially about raising profile so you're assigned to or chosen to be on a team."

Standing by the board, whom Arthur hadn't noticed at first, was a knight who was staring at the two of them.

Lancelot.

Alfred noticed him first, and immediately stepped forward so he was slightly in front of Arthur. He was glaring again, and his grip on Arthur's hand tightened.

"Alfred." Arthur muttered, pulling the other back slightly. "Don't."

Lancelot, however, had already caught on to the glare, and approached them. "Look, I don't know who you are or what your problem is, but it's a little rude to just stare." he directed at the taller knight.

Alfred just laughed. "Rude? You're talking to me about rude? It's also _rude_ to capture an innocent being, torment them, and want to sell them off to the butcher's." he snapped, eyes hard.

"Alfred!" Arthur pulled back on his hand, glaring at him as he placed himself between the two. "Stand down!"

Lancelot simply looked between the two, a confused but offended frown plastered on his face.

"No!" It was Alfred's turn to pull Arthur back. "He hurt me and was gonna hurt you too!"

Arthur's glare hardened. "Alfred, do not forget, I am your superior here. Now stand down, that's an order!"

Alfred met his gaze defiantly for a few moments, but then his will crumbled beneath it and he took a small step back. His eyes slid to Lancelot. "I will never forget what you did to me, bastard. Or him. He's the only reason you're not laying knocked out on the ground. Thank him." he sneered, spurred on by his rage.

Arthur ignored the other, instead moving to stand in front of Lancelot. "You remember Alfred?"

Lancelot's faced relaxed in recognition and his eyes shot to the rookie, looking him carefully up and down. "He isn't...?"

"Yes, I'm afraid he is." Arthur replied as the lower ranked knight examined Alfred, mouth slightly agape.

He closed his mouth and frowned as he came to a decision, bowing to one knee. "I humbly apologize for my mistrust. I would never have wished that upon another human being."

"The trouble is, Sir Lancelot, you should not have wished that upon any living creature. Nor should you have defied the king's orders, may I add." Arthur said harshly.

Lancelot raised his head to look at the knight speaking. "I make no apology for what my actions were based on the information _we_ were given by the king." He stole a sidelong glance at Alfred. "I only apologize that they were on an innocent human."

Arthur sighed, and turned to Alfred. "Well?"

Alfred sniffed. "You're still a bastard." he declared. "And an asshole. And I don't like you. But I guess I won't hit you now." He grabbed Arthur's hand and turned away. "Let's go, Artie."

Arthur started off, but turned as an afterthought came to him. "You stay away from me and Alfred." he directed quietly, but firmly at Lancelot. "Or I swear I will let the information get to the king. Understand?" With a nod of confirmation from Lancelot, he turned and walked.

Moving so close to Arthur's side that their hips bumped against each other, Alfred walked along with him contently. He was kind of pissed that he wasn't able to hit Lancelot, but this would have to do. "How about you show me your room?" he whispered into Arthur's ear.

Arthur looked at the rookie and cocked an eyebrow. "I was going to show you around some more." he placidly replied.

"You can do that later." Alfred gave him the puppy eyes. "We were apart for _two years_. I just wanna hold you..."

After just a few moments of those goddamn eyes, Arthur crumbled. Two whole years and a change of species, and Alfred hadn't changed in the slightest. "All right." he muttered as he changed course, heading instead for his room.

Alfred grinned and nuzzled to the higher ranking knight more as they walked. "Awesome! I can't wait to see your room, what's it like?"

"Well it's nothing out of the ordinary... Just another room in the castle. It's got quite a nice bed, for a knight's room, I suppose, and it's...it's..." Arthur paused as he was about to open his door, suddenly remembering the tapestry still hanging on his wall- Alfred's tapestry. "...We can't go in." he said, nervous.

Alfred frowned. "Why not? I wanna see your nice bed. This is it?" He pointed to the door and then pushed past Arthur to go in, before stopping in shock when he noticed the tapestry. His breathing hitched and a muffled choking sound came from his throat. "A-Artie?" He turned to Arthur, tears pooling in his eyes.

Arthur's eyes grew wide out of desperation as Alfred went in of his own accord, going red as he realized what was going on. Frantically looking away, he mumbled his response. "I couldn't get rid of it..."

"Oh Artie..." Alfred hurled himself forward and wrapped Arthur up into a massive hug, crying softly into his shoulder. "I-It means so much to me... Thank you..."

Arthur stumbled a little at the force of the hug, wrapping one arm tentatively around the other as he regained his posture. "It's nothing..." he said quietly, though secretly gleeful at Alfred's positive reaction.

"It's everything to me, Arthur..." Alfred whispered to him, and clutched him even tighter.

Rubbing Alfred's back, Arthur looked at the tapestry. "Well, you can have it back now."

"N-Nah, you keep it." Alfred pulled away and smiled at him as he wiped the tears quickly from his eyes and cheeks. "It'd be more convenient to have my two treasures in one spot, right?" he asked with a wink.

Arthur hated to admit his heart skipping a beat at that, but it did nonetheless. "I-I really don't need it, I only kept the damn thing because it was the only thing I had to remember yo-" The knight stopped himself there, inwardly cursing at what he had already let slip.

Alfred felt his cheeks heat up a bit after that, and he sniffed again. "Oh stoppit Artie, you're makin' me cry again..." He laughed a bit and moved backwards so he was sitting on the edge of the bed and smiling up at Arthur, his precious Arthur.

"It's not as if I meant to say that..." Arthur muttered, avoiding looking at the other.

"Oh..." Alfred's face fell a bit and he looked down at his hands, his shoulders slumping.

Arthur turned and looked at Alfred, frowning with wide-eyed worry when he saw him. "What? I-It wasn't- I mean- There's no need to be upset!"

Alfred just shrugged, rubbing his arms a bit and still not looking up.

What was with this atmosphere? Arthur hadn't intended this sort of effect, he was simply reluctant to admit that kind of thing. "I never said it wasn't true, you idiot." he mumbled, watching the floor.

"You said you didn't mean to say it!"

"N...not out loud..."

"What?" Alfred glanced up at him with some confusion.

"It's embarrassing!" The shorter knight clenched his fists. "It's embarrassing to admit _out loud_ that I needed something of yours to cling onto, and it's embarrassing to admit that the words came out before I managed to stop them!" Oh, how he hated having to be blunt.

Alfred gave a slight half smile, and he stood to hug his Arthur again. "It's all right." he murmured, pressing kisses to the knight's neck and cheek. "I'm sorry..."

Arthur simply stood in apologetic silence, and slowly raised his arms to return Alfred's hug.

Alfred let out a low whimper right next to Arthur's ear, and he gently rubbed his back. "Sorry..." he said softly.

Arthur huffed slightly contentedly, closing his eyes as he gently ran his fingers through Alfred's hair. "Don't be..."

"I am though..." Alfred stepped backwards and then fell back onto the bed, pulling Arthur down with him so that the knight ended up on top of him. He turned them both to the side and curled around Arthur tightly. "You don't know how ling I've wanted to do this for..." he murmured, pressing kiss after kiss to Arthur's hair and neck.

Arthur was shocked at the sudden movement, but his expression relaxed as he felt Alfred's warmth around him. Keeping his arm around the other, he hummed contently at the kisses. "Around two years, perhaps?" he mumbled quietly.

"Heh, around that amount..." Alfred murmured throatily. He whined again and his legs tightened around Arthur's. "I-I wanna touch you everywhere- I wanna _feel_ you everywhere...Artie..."

In the space of a second, all sorts of scenarios flashed through Arthur's mind at the words, leaving him dry-throated. "U-uh..." He compelled himself to swallow, to will some saliva to wet his throat. "I... Well, I have no problem with that..."

Alfred clutched him tighter for a moment but then shifted so he was straddling the smaller man. His hands moved to the buckles of Arthur's ceremonial armour. "...May I?"

Arthur watched Alfred's hands with a strange nervous anticipation, trying to keep his breathing level as he nodded.

Gently undoing the straps and buckles, Alfred slid the armour off him. The shirt was pulled off and tossed aside as well. "Artie..." he whispered as he slid his hands reverently over Arthur's body.

The feeling sent a slight shiver down Arthur's spine, and he reached out a hand to the other's hip. "Alfred." he responded, eyes gliding wistfully, almost unnoticeably, across Alfred's still armour-clad torso.

"Wanna undress me?" Alfred asked, noticing the look in his eyes.

Arthur's eyes shot back to Alfred's as he stumbled a little over his words. "I- ah-" he began, playing with the edge of the armour. "...Can I?"

"Of course." Alfred leaned down briefly to press a kiss to Arthur's nose before straightening back out. "We're lovers, aren't we? You don't even gotta ask." He smiled encouragingly at the other.

A smirk playing at the corner of his mouth, Arthur cocked a brow. "Oh, haven't I? So I could just whip off all your clothes in the middle of a training session and that'd be fine?" he asked teasingly, undoing the straps and lifting the armour off.

"W-Well maybe not in public..." Alfred muttered, his face reddening a bit. "But in private, go for it."

Arthur's smirk only increased with Alfred's reaction, and he chuckled slightly as he slipped the other's shirt off, eyes feasting on the sight bottom up. Once the shirt was off, Arthur's eyes widened - he had not expected to see a scar emblazoned across his lover's chest. "Alfred..." he whispered, fingers tracing the outline. "Is this...?"

"Huh?" Alfred glanced down and he remembered the scar. "O-Oh..." Suddenly very shy about it, he grabbed the shirt and started tugging it back on to cover the mark. In the process he gently knocked Arthur's fingers away. "Haha, no need for me to be fully naked, right?" he said nervously, the words spilling out of his mouth with astounding speed.

Arthur only paused for a split second before his hand shot out to try and halt Alfred's own, shooting a glare his direction. He sat up and left a small, gentle kiss upon Alfred's scar, directly above his heart. "I don't see why not." he murmured.

Letting out a small sniff, Alfred wrapped his arms around Arthur's waist and hugged him tightly, burying his face in the crook between the knight's neck and shoulder. He pulled Arthur as close to himself as possible, trying to convey his gratitude to him.

Arthur gave the other a gentle squeeze of reassurance, softly running his hands across Alfred's skin. He pulled away slightly to trace Alfred's defined muscles, watching his fingers as they moved across Alfred's skin.

Alfred pulled away slightly as well to look down at him. "Like what ya see?" he asked softly.

Arthur looked up at him with a small grin. "I have to admit that I do." he teased, leaving a hint of his nails as he dragged his fingers down Alfred's stomach.

"Hnnn..." Alfred let out a light moan as he leaned into Arthur's touch. "G-Good." he managed to get out.

Raising a brow at the reaction, Arthur suppressed a chuckle. "What about you?" he asked, moving his hand to circle Alfred's side playfully.

"Mmm..." Alfred looked at him through half-lidded eyes. "I've always liked what I saw..."

"Hm, I noticed." Arthur breathed, inches from Alfred's face.

Alfred closed the distance between them, his eyes slipping shut as their lips connected.

* * *

**A/N**: This was originally a longer scene, but from this point onwards it just dissolves into sex so I decided to split it up. If you don't wanna read the sex, then this is the end of the road for you, and thank you so much for reading!

If you do wanna read the sex, then read on!


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**: And here's the sex part~

* * *

His hands moved to splay against Arthur's sides, and he moved so they were laying down again, Arthur beneath him. Arthur almost immediately returned the kiss, deepening it as he matched Alfred's pace. He grunted slightly as he was laid down, but quickly wrapped his arms around the other, one at the back of his neck and the other around his waist.

"Mmph-" Alfred moaned against his lips as his hands slipped down to deftly remove the bottom portion of Arthur's clothes. Then he pulled away and sat up, straddling the knight again and looking down at him. "God you're hot..."

"Oh, shut up," Arthur murmured, somewhat embarrassed, pulling the other down to kiss at the corners of his mouth, trying to entice him into another distracting kiss.

Grinning, Alfred nipped at his lower lip before pulling back again. "Mmm, nope." He quickly stripped himself before climbing off Arthur and moving lower, so his head was about on the level of the knight's stomach. "So hot, Artie..." he muttered as he kissed and licked the area around Arthur's hips.

Arthur shamelessly watched as Alfred's clothing came off and he moved lower, restraining a moan at Alfred's touches and words, instead letting out a low hum.

"Looks like you're getting a bit hard there, Artie." Alfred commented, grinning lewdly as he felt something poke against his upper chest.

"Sh-shut up...!" Arthur shot daggers at Alfred as best as he could in his current condition, face flushing at the comment. "I bet I'm not the only one..."

"Want me to take care of it?"

Arthur's face grew even darker at this, and he turned it away sharply. "...You're so crude..." he muttered.

"Crude or not, I could help ya." Alfred ran his tongue along Arthur's happy trail, going dangerously low before abruptly pulling away.

Arthur twitched, eyes shooting back to Alfred with furrowed brows. "...Fine."

Alfred grinned and lowered his mouth to Arthur's cock, lightly licking up the length of the shaft with his tongue. Arthur impulsively let out a short moan, stifling himself half way through with a bite of his lip. Chuckling lightly, Alfred increased his licking, closing his mouth and allowing his teeth to lightly graze over the sensitive skin.

"Hnn..." Arthur hummed, a hand going to grip the back of Alfred's head to give himself some support.

Alfred's eyes fluttered closed at the feeling of Arthur's fingers tangling into his hair, and he put all of his efforts into getting Arthur harder, but not reaching climax quite yet. Letting a few small moans pass his lips, Arthur clenched Alfred's hair tighter and shut his eyes tightly, member twitching slightly in Alfred's mouth. When Alfred felt Arthur was sufficiently hard, he gave his cock a final few licks and tried to pull away.

Arthur gave a light, frustrated groan and pushed Alfred's head down slightly in protest, not wanting the sensations to stop. Alfred let out a soft grunt as Arthur's cock went down into his throat a bit and he wrinkled his nose, but then relaxed. His mouth opened slightly wider and he resumed the licking, pressing his tongue firmly against the underside of the organ. Reveling in the feeling, Arthur let out a throaty moan, his legs shaking slightly with the effort it took to not thrust into Alfred's mouth.

A soft whine tore itself from Alfred's throat in response to Arthur's moan, and Alfred started sucking lightly on Arthur's member, coating it with a thin layer of his saliva along the way.

Hissing in pleasure at the feeling, Arthur's free hand wandered to find somewhere to grip, eventually finding a hold on Alfred's shoulder. "Nnn... Alfred..."

"Mmph?" Alfred tilted his head back ever so slightly and opened his eyes so he could look up at Arthur questioningly.

The sight meant another stifled groan from Arthur, and he suddenly found it a whole lot harder to ask for what he wanted whilst looking into Alfred's eyes like this. He only managed to get out one word: "M-More..."

Alfred's eyes darkened a bit and he nodded lightly. His tongue strokes became rougher and pushed more against Arthur's cock, and his hands moved to press down hard on the knight's hips, close to bruising force. His head dipped up and down as he worked to push Arthur over the edge.

Arthur gasped at the sudden roughness, unable to stop himself from arching up towards Alfred as the heat pooled dangerously, both hands scrabbling at Alfred's back and head. "Ah... Alfr-" he bit his lip, trying to hold himself back.

"Nnngg-" Alfred let out a low moan when his mouth was thrust into, the feeling alien but quite pleasant. He increased the pressure of his tongue again, trying to get Arthur to do it once more.

Hips twitching upwards again, Arthur's fists balled in Alfred's hair, tugging it strongly.

Alfred winced a bit as his hair was tugged, and he gave Arthur's cock a long hard suck in hopes it would get him to climax.

Arthur moaned with no restraint at the feeling, once again thrusting into Alfred's mouth as heat shot down his spine. "Al- I- nnah-!" he cried, the pleasure overcoming his restraint as he climaxed.

Alfred's eyes widened the slightest bit as he swallowed, throat moving up and down to make sure the salty liquid went down the right hole. When it was all done he gently moved back against Arthur's hand, trying to pull away completely again.

Arthur lay panting lightly, and his grip slackened, allowing Alfred up.

"Mmm..." Alfred gave Arthur's cock a final lick before pulling away and moving up again, so his chin was perched lightly on Arthur's chest. "Heeeey." he said, grinning.

Flushing more than he already been, Arthur turned his head and frowned determinedly at the wall.

"Oh c'mon, don't be like that...'

"What?" Arthur mumbled back, looking back at Alfred.

"That was okay, right? You liked it, right?" Alfred asked, a hint of worry in his eyes that he hadn't pleased his lover. Should he not have swallowed? Did he make Arthur come too fast? Did he not drag it out long enough?

Arthur looked into Alfred's eyes and couldn't bear to worry them. "It was fine, Alfred. It...felt good."

Relief flooded the blue, and Alfred smile. "I-I'm glad." He pressed kisses to Arthur's chest.

Arthur offered up a small smile of his own, gently wrapping an arm around the other as he watched him.

"I love you, Artie." Alfred whispered.

"...I love you too."

Alfred's smile widened. "I know."

Arthur smiled back, before giving an awkward cough. "So, ah, what about you?" he asked evasively.

"What about me what?" Alfred asked, tilting his head to the side.

Arthur turned his face away. "Are you...uh, do you need any help?"

"Help with what?"

"Well I mean you just helped me with..." Arthur cleared his throat again, nudging Alfred's thigh with his knee. "You know."

Alfred let out a little moan. "I-I was thinking something else for that?"

Arthur's eyes shot back to Alfred. "Something else...?"

"Yeah!" Alfred made slight thrusting motions with his hips.

Arthur jolted slightly, surprised at the insinuation, but he couldn't disagree entirely with the idea. "I...ah..."

"So yeah?" Alfred's fingers traveled southward.

Shivering a little with anticipation, Arthur narrowed his eyes. "If...if you insist." he muttered, not wanting to drop his façade.

"I do!" Alfred said cheerfully, pressing kisses to Arthur's chest as he slipped a finger inside.

Arthur suddenly tensed up at the unusual feeling, not used to it, and he hissed quietly.

Immediately, Alfred paused in his motions. "You all right there, Artie?"

"Y-Yes." Arthur said through gritted teeth, frowning at the other knight. "I'm- ah- not used to this-"

"Heh." Alfred smirked a bit, and resumed stretching him.

Arthur's hand went to grip at Alfred's back, and he let out a small whimper. "What is it you- bastard?"

"Nothing, nothing." Alfred chuckled and added in a second finger, starting to scissor him.

Nails digging into Alfred's skin, Arthur seethed, frustrated at Alfred's amusement. "Clearly not." he muttered.

"Mmm-" Alfred let out a low moan as Arthur's nails dragged against his skin. "Nah, s'just- I'm your first like that."

Arthur's complexion darkened at the words, though he brushed it off. "Just- get on with it..." he said, twitching a little at the feeling.

"Impatient, are we?" Alfred waggled his eyebrows a bit and slowly added his third finger, searching for Arthur's prostate.

"Not- Not at all..." Arthur arched into Alfred's touch as Alfred hit a sweet spot, proving himself wrong.

Alfred just chuckled again, and stroked against the spot a few more times.

Letting out a slight moan at the feeling, Arthur felt himself getting more aroused again, and he moved gently on Alfred's fingers.

"Nooo, not impatient at all." Alfred teased as he withdrew his hand and kissed Arthur's neck.

"Shut up." he mumbled as he wrapped his arms around Alfred, tilting his neck a little to give Alfred easier access.

"As you command." Alfred whispered against his skin. He bit down on Arthur's neck and gently sucked on the spot to leave a mark while at the same time sliding slowly into him.

Arthur's grip on Alfred tightened, and he let out a low, retained hum, concentrating on the pleasant sensation in his neck to relax himself.

Alfred moved slowly further into him, giving Arthur ample time to adjust. When he was about halfway in he stopped and rested a moment, before pulling out slightly and starting to thrust. His mouth moved to another spot on Arthur's neck while one of his hands moved down to stroke out the knight's cock.

"A-Ahh!" Arthur let out a short moan, overcome with all the sensations on his body and he gently arched into Arthur's hand, hissing at the unusual feeling of Alfred moving inside him.

"Moan for me, Artie..." Alfred muttered, picking up his pace.

Arthur gladly obliged, giving a long groan as he began to meet Alfred's thrusts. "A-Alfred." he moaned quietly, his nails grappling with Alfred's shoulder blades.

Alfred winced a bit when Arthur ran over his scars- despite being healed the area was a bit tender- and his thrusts faltered for a second. But then he resumed his pace, grinning and panting a bit. "Y-Yeah..."

Picking up on Alfred's pause, Arthur threw him a concerned look, before pleasure came back to the knight and he buried his face in the crook of the other's neck with the abruptness of it all.

Alfred smiled and nuzzled to him, the action made slightly clumsy by their thrusting. His hand pumped Arthur's cock with more intensity, and he was pleased when the organ slowly hardened again under his fingers. He felt himself getting close too as he changed the angle to hit Arthur's sweet spot with every push.

"Oh god-" Arthur cried out as Alfred hit his prostate, clinging tighter to his lover as an intense wave of pleasure rushed through him.

Alfred grinned and thrust harder against the spot. "A-Artie- I'm close-"

Arthur shut his eyes tightly against the feeling, wanting this to last longer than it was, but- "M-Me too..." - but he already felt himself being pushed over the edge and he could barely hold back anymore.

As soon as Alfred felt the warmth splatter all over their stomachs he climaxed as well, spilling into the other knight with a moan of Arthur's name. When it passed he slowly pulled out and then collapsed on top of him, hugging Arthur close to himself.

Panting and slightly weakened, Arthur gave Alfred a slight squeeze before simply resting his arms on him in a light hug, waiting for his breathing to level.

Alfred grinned and nuzzled to his neck. "That was awesome, Artie..." he mumbled, stifling a yawn.

Arthur gave a small, content hum of agreement, frowning slightly as he gave Alfred a nudge. "It was...but you're heavy." he told him.

"Sorry..." Alfred moved them so they were both on their sides, and he curled around Arthur so he was spooning him.

"Mm..." Arthur heaved a small sigh and leaned into him, gently closing his eyes. "It's fine..."

"You tired?" Alfred asked, nuzzling to the back of Arthur's neck. "Wanna sleep?"

A soft smile crossed his face, and Arthur snuffled to Alfred. "That would be lovely."

Alfred's arms tightened around him. "All right then. G'night, Artie." Out of old habit, he leaned forward a bit and gently licked Arthur's cheek before realizing his mistake and snuggling down, burying his face in Arthur's neck.

Giving a small chuckle, Arthur settled down for another night curled up with Alfred. "Good night."

"Night, Artie. I love you." Alfred mumbled to him, and a warmth spread across his chest when he thought about how he'd never have to let Arthur go again.

* * *

**A/N**: Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

There's gonna be another version of this (with Arthur as the dragon) up in a few days, but as I'm leaving in a week for England for a week, I don't wanna start posting it only for there to immediately be a massive break, so enjoy oneshots until I get back~


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